The Harbison Family

2012-02-19T22:42:00.002-06:00

2012-02-15T21:47:00.004-06:00

Visit to CHOM

2012-02-12T21:00:00.011-06:00

First, let me apologize for the crazy spacing in this post. If anyone knows how to upload pics without all of this space in between pics, please leave a comment!

Saturday afternoon we took a little trip to Tuscaloosa. Our first stop was the Children's Hands-On Museum. I LOVE this place!

Giving Curious George a shot...

And a hug...

And a kiss...

Fueling up!

Playing "Banker"

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After our trip to the Children's Hands-On Museum, we took JB's cousin, Cameron, out for supper.

Jane Baird loving on Cameron!

After dinner we made a stop at.... Yep, you guessed it--Yogurt Mountain! No trip to B'ham or Tuscaloos is complete without a trip to Yogurt Mountain. Jane Baird can spot one a mile away!

2012-02-10T22:50:00.014-06:00

Jane Baird's school went on a field trip to the McWane Science Center in B'ham on Monday. We invited our sweet friends, Molly and Candy to go with us. We had a lot of fun!!! After the McWane Science Center, we had to stop by Yogurt Mountain...because JB thinks no trip to B'ham is complete without a frozen yogurt topped with animal crackers and M&M's!

2012-02-08T22:05:00.006-06:00

Sunday was BEAUTIFUL and the thought of folding laundry all afternoon didn't excite me too much (although it needed to be done). Instead, we headed to the park! We ttok a loaf of bread with us for the ducks. Jane Baird loved feeding them!

Jane Baird is yelling at this one duck...she is saying, "No, ducky! Your bread is right here." She was aggravated that the one duck was eating the bread she threw for the others. That is just like her :)

Our trip to the zoo!

2012-01-29T16:07:00.020-06:00

We went to the zoo yesterday! And while we were there, we became members :) Jane Baird LOVED it! We didn't even see half of the animals, but it was so much fun. We let JB lead us around and of course we ended up at the train first :)

I spent 2 hours uploading pics only to have them in backwards order. UGH!

After the zoo, we went to our favorite place for frozen yogurt. No trip to B'ham is complete without Yogurt Mountian! Jane Baird got Rocky Road and Birthday cake topped with sprinkles, animal crackers, and M&M's. She ate every last bite!

This CrAcKs me up! Jane Baird thought the sheep were hilariaus. They were making a very loud Baaaa and it sounded like they were burping.

This is the "chick chick" that Jane Baird followed all around the Children's Zoo area. She was determined to make friends with it. After about 30 minutes of chasing it (it was completely ignoring her) she says, "Let's go find a better chick chick. This one is being uggy."

This llama sneezed on a little girl right after I took this picture. DISGUSTING!!! The little girl had a huge ball of llama snot in her pony tail.

I asked JB what animal this was and she replied, "Umm, this is a zero."

Look, there's the tiger! We had been watching for it and just when I got JB to cooperate for a picture, the tiger appears.

Last January I took JB's pic on this exact rock. She has grown so much in one year!

Jane Baird asks, "Is this elephant in time-out?"

Ringing the bell after the train ride. She wasn't tall enough to reach it last spring. I cannot believe how much my baby girl is growing.

Feeding the flamingos "mingos"

2012-01-29T15:26:00.004-06:00

My computer (that had thousands of pictures and close to 100 videos) crashed. I sort of sensed this was about to happen because over the holidays I ordered dvd's to burn my pics and video clips on. Too bad I didn't get around to doing it before it crashed :( If anyone knows anyone that knows how to recover pics and files, please let me know!!! I have tons of special pics and videos that I want to recover. So now, I have a brand new laptop. I love it!!! My next purchase will be an external harddrive to back up my important things ;)

We have had a busy January. We have been busy painting every weekend. Our goal is to have every room painted by spring break. We are wanting all rooms to be painted with semigloss paint so that we can clean the walls. Flat paint is never good...especially with a two-year-old. I will remember that if we ever build another house. We painted our kitchen, living and dining room, hallway, and Jane Baird's bathroom. JB's room was painted before she was born thankfully! I bought bedding for her big girl bed to match so that I wouldn't have to repaint. We have our master bedroom, bathroom, playroom, and laundry room left to paint... I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.

I bought some cute accessories for JB's bathroom and surprised her. I painted until midnight last night and then decorated it for her this morning. She loves it! I have a few more things I need to do to. But for now, here are some pics of her newly painted and decorated bathroom:

2012-01-23T16:37:00.000-06:00

I read this today and loved it so I thought I would share:

To all the girls who are in a hurry to have a boyfriend or get married, a piece of Biblical advice: " Ruth patiently waited for her mate Boaz." While you are waiting on YOUR Boaz, don't settle for any of his relatives; Broke-az, Po-az, Lyin-az, Cheating-az, Dumb-az, Drunk-az, Cheap-az, Lockedup-az, , Goodfornothing-az, Lazy-az, and especially his third cousin Beatinyo-az. Wait on your Boaz and make sure he respects Yo-az ....

2012-01-20T22:27:00.002-06:00

Where has January gone??? This has been a very busy month for the Harbison family! Christmas break ended January 3rd...sad day for us! I love my job but love being home with my sweet girl even more. Jane Baird was excited to go back to school to see all of her friends. She is a social butterfly for sure.

Last week was are busiest and craziest week of the year. Alan's dad got sick and ended up in the hospital for 5 days. During that time my mother had surgery and had to stay in ICU over night. We were at the hospital every day for almost a week and I almost went broke buying Get Well balloons. Jane Baird thought we HAD to buy one every afternoon as we passed by the gift shop. Everyone is well now and life is slowly getting back to normal.

I don't think I have even taken my camera out of my car since Christmas. I've taken lots of pictures and videos on my phone because its more convenient. I need to find some motivation to clean off my phone and upload some pics...maybe I will get around to it one of these days!

2011-12-26T07:17:00.001-06:00

Christmas 2011

Wow, this Christmas was FUN! They have all been fun but Jane Baird is at a really fun age and there has been a lot of excitement about Christmas. We have read the Christmas story in her bible almost every night so that she would understand the reason for the season. She loves celebrating birthday's so she was excited to celebrate Jesus' birthday and she even sang to him.

My sister, Reagan, and her family came in to town Friday evening. JB has been talking about her cousins, Reese and Davis, for months. She was over the moon excited when they arrived!

We spent Christmas Eve day with Alan's family. We had a nice lunch and then opened presents. Jane Baird got lots of presents and she kept saying "give me another one!" or "I want another present!" She was spoiled as usual and had lots of gifts to open

I love this picture! Jordan, Samantha, and Jane Baird opening one of their gifts from Nene and Papa. Jane Baird fits right in with the big girls :)

Christmas Eve night we went to our candle light service at church (which was absolutely beautiful) and then went to spend the rest of the evening with my family at Grandma and Pops' house. We had a big shrimp boil and just hung out.

When we got home, it was time to sprinkle the Reindeer Food in the yard. Jane Baird dumped the whole bag in one spot!

Milk and Cookies for Santa! We made White Chocolate & Cranberry cookies. They were so good and Santa enjoyed them.

After Jane Baird went to sleep, Santa came for a visit!

Jane Baird decided she would sleep in so we went to wake her up!

Sleepy girl!

This is JB's new um-ee-yea-ya! She has been wanting one of these and was so excited to get it!

We took tons and tons of pictures. I will try to post more over the next few days.

2011-12-20T19:37:00.004-06:00

Jane Baird's Christmas party was last Friday. Alan and I were both able to attend. I was able to see their adorable program and then I had to head back to work :( Jane Baird did great. She didn't attempt to sing the songs (although she knows every word), but she stood up there like a big girl. She would whisper "Mommy, hold me!" every now and then after she spotted me in the audience.

2011-12-18T15:17:00.003-06:00

What a special day for our family! Our family and close friends gathered today to witness the baptism of our sweet Jane Baird at St. Mary's Episcopal Church. Words cannot describe the sweetness of that moment.

Not only was Jane Baird baptized, but my sweet daddy was confirmed. I'm so proud of him!!!

My dad, Jack, Hayes, Jane Baird with Father Tim and Bishop Sloan.

2011-12-02T21:20:00.003-06:00

The Santa at the Jasper mall is so sweet and patient! Jane Baird has been to the mall on several different occasions to wave at him. Tonight, I decided she was going to sit with him. She was terrified of him. I'm so glad I have this picture for the memories! I did not force her to sit with him last year and I have regretted it.

On this morning Santa was visiting her school so we got dolled up. When Santa arrived at her school she totally freaked out.

We began our Advent Calendar on December 1st. Our elf, Cecil, puts treats in one of the pockets each day. Lots of fun!!!

2011-12-01T18:05:00.013-06:00

Jane Baird helping Mommy make Banana Pudding. She looked up at me and said, "Mommy, I like to help you cook." We both enjoyed it!

Jane Baird asked Daddy, "Can I sit on your head?" What she meant to say was shoulders ;)

This picture reminds me of Twilight sort of...

Our tree!

2011-11-30T21:56:00.002-06:00

2011-11-26T21:45:00.007-06:00

Well, I got way behind on the Thankful Challenge and for good reason: I have been enjoying my time with my family. Alan has been off work for 5 straight days (and if you know us well, you know that this NEVER happens.) The last time all three of us were together for this long was back in July when we went to the beach. I have just been enjoying every second of the three of us being together and haven't spent much time on the computer.

We have really enjoyed Thanksgiving week! Jane Baird and I have been out of school all week. Monday we spent the day at home cleaning and organizing. I moved Jane Baird's room around (by myself) and was sore for the next two days from that. I forgot to blog about her new big girl bed. She's had it for a couple of months now. I'll have to post some pics of it. She loves it!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We enjoyed every second with our families. We are still eating leftovers and I LOVE IT! My mom makes the best dressing on earth and I could eat it once a week for the rest of my life and not get tired of it.

Friday morning we got up early and drove to Harpersville to cut down our Christmas tree. We went to Old Baker Farm and we loved it there! We had a blast and hopefully created some great memories for Jane Baird.

Today was the much anticipated Iron Bowl. ROLL TIDE!!! After the ball game we went to my parent's house to make Christmas cookies with Jack and Hayes. We had so much fun and JB LOVED shaking sprinkles all over everything and eating the colored sugar.

I went back to work yesterday. I'm sad my break is over, but a few more weeks and JB and I will be home for Christmas break!

I hope you all have enjoyed your holiday! Here are a few pictures from our week:

I'm having problems uploading pictures so this is only a few. More to come...hopefully!

2011-11-16T18:21:00.002-06:00

I have to play a little catch up...

DAY 14: On Monday, I was so thankful for my husband getting up early to get Jane Baird ready for school! Love that he helps out. I'm so blessed!

Day 15: Yesterday I was looking forward to my doctor's appointment and then a day of Christmas shopping. I was not happy that I drove all the way to B'ham to my appointment just to find out that my doctor was in Haiti and my appointment was rescheduled and I wasn't notified...ugh! But I was able to almost FINISH all my Christmas shopping!!!!!!!!!!!! This was my first time to shop without JB and WOW, I got so much done :) I missed her company and found myself talking to myself a lot. So thankful for a productive day.

ALSO, and most importantly, I am thankful for my dad. November 15 is his birthday. We went to see Grandma and Pops last night and had cake to celebrate his special day. I also got him the perfect gift :) That always makes me happy to find that perfect gift for someone I love so much. Happy Birthday Pops!

2011-11-13T19:48:00.003-06:00

Alan took Jane Baird out Saturday to play while I had some quiet time.

2011-11-13T19:31:00.002-06:00

DAY 12: Yesterday I was so thankful for some quiet time! Alan took Jane Baird outside in the backyard so she could fing (swing). While they were outside I put my feet and read my magazine that I have been trying to read for the past month (but have never made it past page 7).

DAY 13: Today I am thankful that my car battery decided to die today instead of tomorrow morning as I head out for work. I am also thankful for my subscription of Taste of Home magazine. Alan's Aunt Velma bought me a subscription to this magazine 2 years in a row and I loved it! We had the most delicious Baja Chicken Burgers for supper tonight. Alan ate four of them and if you know Alan, he never pigs out! He said on a scale from 1 to 10, they were a 9.9 and I would have to agree :)

2011-11-12T10:33:00.002-06:00

Pictures from the past week:

Last Saturday Jane Baird helped me make pancakes :)

Last Sunday we went to visit Alan's grandmother "Mama Rachel"

I tried to get Jane Baird to turn around so I could get a picture of her braid. Mrs. Stacey braids Jane Baird's hair at school and she does a really good job! Her braids are so neat and perfect. I told her I was going to stop doing JB's hair in the mornings and send a brush, rubber band, and bow to school with her ;)

2011-11-12T08:52:00.001-06:00

Last night Jane Baird wanted to fim (swim) in my tub.

Blowing bubbles

trying to blow bubbles on me

2011-11-11T22:43:00.002-06:00

DAY 11: Today I am thankful for all the Veteran's, especially my dad, Kerry Reese. I am also thankful to have had the day off with Jane Baird.

2011-11-10T21:54:00.002-06:00

DAY 10: Today I am thankful to have a husband who devotes all his time to our family! Tonight was our school's fall festival. After working a long day, Alan brought her to my school so that we could all be together. I appreciate him so much!

2011-11-09T21:26:00.003-06:00

DAY 9: Today I am thankful for the Herzing College jingle that comes on the radio EVERY afternoon during our ride home from school. That is Jane Baird's absolute favorite and she always says, "Turn it up real loud, Mommy!" I turn it up and we both sing along. Jane Baird sings it with such passion and we both crack up about it. Good times :) "Career focused, convenient care. Find your career at Herzing!"

2011-11-08T16:38:00.001-06:00

DAY 8: Today I am thankful that there are only two more days in my work week!!! I am in great need of a long weekend.

2011-11-07T21:46:00.002-06:00

DAY 7: Today, I am thankful for my sweet, funny 1st graders! One of our "amazing" words this week is extinct. I asked my students this morning to raise their hands if they could tell me what that word meant. Of course every hand flew up (and I was proud to have so many smart kids). I called on about 5 kids and they were all clueless and giving me answers that were so far off (which took me by surprise). Finally, this one little boy raised his hand with great confidence and said, "Extinct mean a REALLY, REALLY nasty animal that stinks really bad." I giggled about that all day long!

2011-11-06T07:41:00.002-06:00

Day 6: So much to be thankful for this Sunday morning! I am thankful for the time change! I know that most people hate losing that hour of daylight at the end of the day, but I need that extra hour in the mornings so badly. I am up at 5 every week day just to get everything done in the mornings before I have to rush out the door at 7.

I'm also thankful for watching BAMA football with my family, and a CLEAN game against LSU. Jane Baird loves watching and cheering for The Tide. She repeats what ever we say or scream at the TV (so we have to be careful). Last night she was screaming "GO TIM, GO TIM, GO TIM!" It took me a minute to figure out she was screaming for Trent Richardson :) She watched the entire game with us and enjoyed it as much as we did.

I am so thankful for weekends at home with my family. Alan has been gone A LOT here recently and has worked many weekends ( which he doesn't normally do). I am thrilled that he is home and that things will slow down a little.

And finally, I am SO thankful that this next week will be a 4 day work week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-11-05T11:33:00.002-05:00

DAY 5: Today I am thankful for our Saturday morning pancake breakfast together as a family. Growing up, my mother made pancakes for us EVERY Saturday morning. She made the best pancakes (and still does). I am happy to carry on that tradition with my family (when we are home on Saturday mornings). My pancakes are not as good as hers, but I try :)

2011-11-04T17:01:00.003-05:00

DAY 4: Today I am thankful for my healthy little girl. Jane Baird was born with a tracheal esophageal fistula and an esophageal atresia (EA/TEF). Thankfully, her EA/TEF could be corrected by surgery. It wasn't an easy road to health, but we made it! I just ready about a little girl that passed away at the age of 3 after multiple surgeries and complications from her EA/TEF. My heart breaks for her family.

Jane Baird brightens every day. I can not even remember what life was like before she came into our lives. I am so thankful she is healthy and that God chose me to be her mommy.

2011-11-03T20:36:00.003-05:00

DAY 3: Today I am thankful for finger painting with my sweet little princess. Today I got my fingers messy with her and we had so much fun! I can't think of a better way to spend the afternoon :)

2011-11-02T21:07:00.002-05:00

I got so tired last night after updating my blog for 2 hours last night that I didn't even begin my Thankful Challenge. So here it goes:

DAY 1: Yesterday I was thankful to have a job. Yesterday was payday, and teachers got a pay cut which totally stinks. AND we are getting another pay cut in January. I did gripe a little about it, but the truth is I'm just thankful to have a job. No, it's not fair that our pay check gets smaller while the legislators' checks get bigger, but I'm glad to get a check and glad that it will pay our bills with some left over.

DAY 2: I'm so thankful for my family! I have the world's greatest husband. He adores me and loves me for who I am. He sees so much more in me than I see in myself. He is ALWAYS here for me and he is the hardest working person I know. He helps around the house and is a wonderful dad to our sweet daughter. And that sweet daughter of ours is the most precious little girl ever created. She is full of laughter and energy. She has a mind of her own and doesn't mind expressing it. She has a really girly side to her but can hang with the boys too. She has a very funny personality and is just a ray of sunshine. She is strong willed and goes after what ever she wants. And she loves her mommy and daddy with all her heart.
For all of this, I am so thankful!

Prayers for Colton

2011-11-01T23:24:00.002-05:00

This handsome little guy goes to school with Jane Baird. He was born with a serious medical condition and had to have a kidney transplant last Thursday. His loving father donated one of his own kidneys. Both are doing well at this point but sweet Colton has a long road ahead. Please remember these two special people in your prayers!

(Colton is the brother of JB's boyfriend)

2011-11-01T22:33:00.008-05:00

I was not able to attend Jane Baird's Halloween party, but Alan was! He took lots of pictures for me. As you can see, JB loved the big slide!

Jane B. with some of her classmates. The handsome little guy sitting next to JB is Ethan, her boyfriend. Her sweet friend Maggie is sitting to her left. Alan said he saw JB and Ethan in the corner of the jumpy house tickling each other LOL!

This is my favorite! JB is such a little daredevil!

2011-11-01T22:22:00.002-05:00

My sweet grandmother celebrated her 93rd birthday on October 22. We went to Mississippi to celebrate. She would be VERY upset with me if she knew her picture was on my blog for the world to see! We love "Grandma Puddin'" so much!

2011-11-01T21:42:00.004-05:00

We took Jane Baird trick-or-treating around our neighborhood. There was not a lot of traffic which was very nice. Jane Baird took this trick-or-treating thing very seriously. She went door to door like it was her business! Our neighbors really hooked her up. She came home with an enormous bag full of candy. She loved walking door to door and ringing the doorbells. She was so cute walking with her treat bag. We all had so much fun! I cannot remember a better Halloween :)

2011-11-01T20:59:00.003-05:00

After the pumpkin carving we made cupcakes. Jane Baird loved shaking the sprinkles out all over the cupcake, plate, table and floor. After decorating the cupcakes JB said, "Let's sing happy birthday!" She made Alan light a candle and then we all sang Happy Birthday to Halloween :)

2011-11-01T20:57:00.000-05:00

2011-11-01T20:50:00.003-05:00

Sunday we finally carved our pumpkin that we got at the pumpkin patch a couple of weeks ago. Jane Baird liked "stirring" the seeds. I forgot to get an after picture but we let JB pick the shapes for the eyes, nose, and mouth. She asked for triange eyes, triange nose and a smiley face with teeth. Can you guess what her favorite shape is?

2011-11-01T20:42:00.003-05:00

Saturday night we went to Boo at the Zoo! I tried to get a good picture of her in her costume before we left, but she was being so silly. Oh well!

We had a lot of fun at the zoo. Jane Baird's favorite part was riding the train (we waited in line for the train for like an hour).

2011-11-01T20:39:00.002-05:00

My clown cowgirl! We went to our church's Halloween party last Wednesday night and JB got her face painted. She picked a clown face. The look on her face when I took her to the mirror was PRICELESS!!!

2011-11-01T20:35:00.002-05:00

Dirty face!

Jane Baird loves playing outside. The kids are usually outside on the playground when I pick her up from preschool. Jane Baird's face is always filthy dirty when I pick her up. One of her teachers told me that I would just die if I saw some of the things she does on the playground in her pretty little outfits.

2011-11-01T20:30:00.002-05:00

Alan has been working out of town A LOT recently. He has been going back and forth to Tampa and Orlando. I think he has worked about 21 days straight with only one day off. JB and I text him pictures when he is gone so he won't forget us.

2011-11-01T20:21:00.002-05:00

Ready for school!!!

I was packing Jane Baird's bag for school when she says, "Mommy, look at me!" I turn around and see that she has made herself a "cup holder." She is so creative :)

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-18T19:18:00.005-05:00

2011-10-15T19:28:00.002-05:00

We met up with Grethel Van Epps for our 2.5 yr/fall/Christmas pics this morning. We enjoyed our session so much. As usual, JB was full of energy and wanted to run and play the entire time. This is our sneak peek from our session:

I love this picture! Jane Baird is a little monkey and loves to do "wips" (flips)!

2011-10-08T16:47:00.004-05:00

Alan has to work tomorrow so I have been determined to squeeze an entire weekend of fun into a day and a half. Friday after school we went to Birmingham to eat at our favorite restaurant--Firebirds! We ate their last weekend and it was so good we had to go back. If you have not been there, you must go! My favorite is the Mixed Greens Salad and the Crab Cakes appetizer with Mango Chutney. Their steaks are very good as well, but I'm not a steak girl.

After a great dinner we went to the galleria, fabric store, Toys R Us, Target and Wal-Mart. I kept Alan and Jane Baird out until midnight! We had a great time but we were all exhausted when we got home.

This morning Jane Baird and I got up early and went to Weight Watchers. I decided to join because I really need that support system and accountability. Jane Baird was VERY well behaved at the meeting (much to my surprise) and she even clapped for other members when they shared their success. It was very cute! (It did help that my good friend was there with her son and and she brought along a bag of M&m's for them to share.)

After WW Alan, JB and I headed to the park to meet up with my friend Grace and her son, Logan. Logan and JB are 3 months apart and play together so well. We took some riding toys and let them go! They had a blast riding and playing on the playground.

This evening JB and I went to Wal-Mart to stock up on WW foods. I spent $80 on fruits and veggies and a few other things! I forgot how expensive it is to diet. I will probably have to make 3 or 4 more trips to the grocery store this week.

Tomorrow is our church picnic at Camp McDowell and I am excited/nervous about it. Alan will be working so it will just be me to chase JB around the campus (Mom and Dad will have their hands full with Jack and Hayes). If you know my child, you know what I'm talking about! It will be fun but I have a feeling I will need to wear my running shoes ;)

Jane Baird and her buddy, Logan!

2011-10-05T19:50:00.006-05:00

I never have time to sit down at the computer anymore and JB tells me, "Mommy, don't look at the puter." She likes to have my undivided attention! We have had a lot going on around here. I've been a single parent throughout most of the school weeks since August. Alan is traveling so much. I can't remember a time in 10 years that he has had to travel so much. Anyway he has been to Kentucky, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Chicago, Tennessee, Arkansas and the list goes on! I do enjoy having Jane Baird all to myself but I miss Alan terribly when he is gone. He helps me so much with the little things like packing JB's lunch, folding laundry, doing the dishes after I cook dinner, etc. I can't wait for things to slow down!

Jane Baird is doing great. She is growing up so fast and is so smart. She talks ALL THE TIME! And I love that...except for when she is smarting off. Yep, she got my smart mouth!!! I guess I'm paying for what I put my parents through. She is also very silly and has a very good sense of humor. She makes me laugh all the time. She is loving school and wakes up every morning ready to go. She is doing great with the potty training. She will tinkle in the potty but still not in to pooping in the potty yet. She will tell me when she needs to poop and I put a diaper on her. I'm hoping she will be ready to get rid of the diapers soon!

I know this is extremely hard to believe, but I haven't taken many pictures lately. These are all the ones from my camera card:

These are all out of order for some reason...

Alan's sweet grandmother and JB's great grandmother is very sick. We went to the nursing home to visit her. She is such a sweet, sweet lady and we have really enjoyed our visits. Jane Baird calls her "Mawmaw Rachel." Jane Baird is always asking to go see her. Jane Baird took her flowers a few Sunday's ago and last Sunday she painted her a picture.

JB an Hayes!!! This was such a fun day. Whenever JB is around Hayes she is all smiles :) They crack each other up!

JB and Hayes in the "time out" chair. Hayes has to go to time out so JB jumps up in the chair with him so he wouldn't be lonely!

JB wrestling with the boys!

Our second visit with "Mawmaw Rachel." Jane Baird loves playing with her toys when we visit (her cane, walker, and wheelchair).

She LOVES stickers! These came in the mail and I tried to hide them from her...

JB fell outside and got a booboo

My little Bama cheerleader :)

Rainy Day Fun!

2011-09-05T16:50:00.008-05:00

It has rained for 2 days straight! I have to admit that I have enjoyed every single minute of being cooped up with my two favorite people. Today I let Jane Baird put on her rain coat to play in the rain. She had so much fun! This was her first time to play in the rain and of course she was not happy when it was time to go in.

2011-09-03T21:49:00.002-05:00

Happy Birthday to my sweet, sweet husband! He is my best friend and I feel so blessed to spend my life with him. For his birthday, I surprised him with tickets to the Bama game. We used to always go to at least the first game of the season before JB was born because it always fell on his birthday weekend. After our sweet daughter was born we just stopped going and settled for watching the games at home. Alan was very surprised and happy when he found out we were going to the game today and we had such a fun day! (Thanks, Lauren!)

While Alan and I were in T-Town, Jane Baird got to spend the day with Jack, Hayes, and Grandma & Pops! She was so excited to get over there this morning. She told me on the way over that she wanted to take a nap over at Grandma and Pop's house...what she meant was "leave me over there for a long time!"

After the game we had dinner at my parents house. Today is also Jack's birthday so mom made a special birthday dinner for Jack and Alan. She also made them both a delicious chocolate cake. It was one of the best cakes I've even eaten!

I'm looking forward to relaxing for the next couple of days with my sweet family. Happy Labor Day!!!

August 2011

2011-08-28T20:47:00.006-05:00

A couple of weekends ago we took Hayes and JB to the McWane Science Center. We had a blast! Too bad my camera battery died at the first exhibit :( Anyway at least I got a pic of each of them on the bed of nails.

JB made a new friend at the Chick Fil A playground!

Showing off her new Elmo pjs that she picked out as a reward for going potty

Eating Cake! She thought she was going to get to eat that whole plate of cake...

These were taken on her first official day of school.

One night we were watching TV and we saw a Zebra. JB thought it was a horse and she wanted to ride it. I tried to explain to her that people don't ride zebras and besides it was on TV. Well she had a melt down and threw a little tantrum. I found her zebra print dress and threw it over Daddy's knee and told her to ride. She was satisfied!

This cracks me up! On Saturday (after 3 months of nagging her about the potty) she finally decides to go potty. She got to put on her Dora panties and this is a pic of her modeling them!

I love my silly girl!!! She went potty all day Saturday and Sunday and tonight she even pooped in the potty! We are so proud and relieved! And no accidents YET.

2011-08-04T15:34:00.005-05:00

So much to be thankful for!

Last Thursday I had another surgery. Jane Baird went to stay with my parents for a couple of days. This was her very first time to sleep away from home (except for her hospital stays). She was so excited to go spend time with her cousins and probably didn't even give her parents a single thought while she was there.

I'm so thankful to have such a wonderful family to help out when I have needed the help. My dad has offered to keep Jane Baird all summer long when I've had doctor's appointments. (It seems that I spent the summer going to doctor's appointments.) My mother took time off work during my surgery to help with Jane Baird and to bring me whatever it was that I needed. My mother and father in law brought groceries to the house after I came home from the hospital and my mother in law came to spend time with JB so that I wouldn't have to lift a finger while my father in law worked on Alan's weed-eater that wouldn't crank. My sister in law and her daughters came over to play with JB and they also helped me prepare some awesome homemade spaghetti sauce and washed every dish in the sink and put them all away. My mother in law came back over just to bathe JB because I couldn't bend over and then yesterday my sister in law and her girls rode with me to B'ham for my post surgery visit and entertained JB while I saw the doctor. And I forgot to mention that my dad aired up my tires so we could go safely to B'ham. And lastly, I am so thankful for my husband who has made sure that I've had some one checking on me every day and making sure that I am not doing any housework. He works 60+ hours each week in the heat all day long and then comes home and does all of the chores. God has blessed me beyond belief and beyond my deserving with such a caring family! I love them all so much.

My sweet little girl!

Going to Grandma's house to spend the night. She wanted to wear her "choo choo bain" pajamas over there.

Since returning home from Grandma and Pop's house after Mommy's surgery, JB has been quite the little handful and acting out big time! Saturday morning she got into Mommy's $30 creme blush and used it all up making sure that Mommy would have to buy more before school starts.

What takes me a year to go through, JB managed to use it all in one day :/

Today was my first day at home with JB without help from family. She got into my purse and unwrapped all of my gum.

She has no idea what gum is so she decided to just carry it around with her (that's what she is holding in her hand below along with my next doctor's app reminder)

And then I went into the bathroom and saw this. Picture was taken after the hairbrush and comb were removed from potty :/

2011-07-21T14:39:00.002-05:00

We decided to clean JB's playroom (a rather daunting task)to get rid of toys that she doesn't really play with. We do this several times a year because we accumulate so much stuff! Alan and I were busy bagging toys to take for the Salvation Army when Jane Baird asks me for a napkin. I (without looking) ask her why she needs a napkin and she tells me that Elmo needs it. This is what I saw when I turned around! (That's vanilla pudding)

We have been learning to and talking about "sharing." I think she gets the concept!

CVS had paper towels on sale so we stocked up last weekend. Jane Baird saw them and climbed up and said "I'm at the beach!" She did not want to leave her beach chair!

2011-07-21T01:10:00.004-05:00

This is guaranteed to make you smile!

Jane Baird would entertain us every night while we were at the beach. She LOVES to sing and this song was her favorite that week...

2011-07-21T00:42:00.005-05:00

Jane Baird's favorite thing to do at our condo was to pretend to call my dad on this old fashioned phone she found in the drawer. She would say, "I wanna call Pops!" She "called him" about 500 times every day!

And finally, no trip to the beach would be complete without a little photo shoot on the beach wearing white...right? That seems to be the thing to do so we did it too! I waited until the very last evening right after she woke up from her nap and was still sleepy and ILL! All she wanted to do was to "go play" at The Track. She had tears in her eyes in most of these pictures, but oh well. I tried!

On our way home from the beach we visited the Montgomery Zoo. I do have a few pics from that trip but I used a different camera. Maybe I will get around to posting those one day!

2011-07-20T15:24:00.003-05:00

Dinner at Lulu's!

We ate an early dinner at Lulu's! Good thing we got there early because there was already a very long wait at 4:00 int he afternoon. It was well worth the wait. Jane Baird had a blast playing in front of the large fan/mister as you can see :)

2011-07-20T15:12:00.002-05:00

After our last beach day we went for an early dinner at Lulu's and then back to The Track for some more fun. Jane Baird was so excited to go back and she rode EVERYTHING in the kiddie area at least 5 times!

I did not take many pictures this night because I wanted to have fun with my two favorite people on our last night. I didn't even bring my good camera, but I managed to get a few poor quality pictures of JB riding the train all by herself.

2011-07-20T14:07:00.005-05:00

This was our last beach day...so sad! But it was a FUN day at the beach!!!

I just love this picture!

Dancing on the beach!

Jane Baird is chasing the "chick chicks"

She loved chasing the "chick chicks" but they did not like her so much. After the made the long strenuous walk through the sand to see them, they would fly away. She was very disappointed!

2011-07-19T21:35:00.002-05:00

After the much needed nap, we hit the beach for some fun in the sun! Jane Baird really enjoyed collecting shells on this particular day.

After our beach time, we had to get ready for dinner. We went to The Original Oyster House and were told we had a 2 hour wait. Thankfully we waited because we were seated in less than an hour. It was 9:00 and JB was starving! We promised her that we would go back to The Track after dinner, but it was late and she was almost asleep before be left the parking lot.

2011-07-18T09:39:00.005-05:00

The next day...

I've lost track of what day I'm on, so this is the day we went on the Dolphin Cruise. We had to take the early boat to coordinate with her nap. We left the dock at 10:00 am and it was HOT! We enjoyed the cruise and saw lots of dolphins. Jane Baird would yell at the dolphins "Jump up high!" The captain and deck hand were very sweet to her and even let her drive the boat! After the dolphin cruise, we had lunch at Flippers on the water and then went back to the condo and JB took a very long, much needed nap!

JB napping after an exciting morning!

We saw lots of dolphins and most of them would get right up next to the boat!

JB driving the boat. She is mad at Daddy for not letting her mess with all of the boat's controls. She was wanting to push all the buttons.

Under this ugly life jacket, JB is wearing a very cute dress smocked with green octopuses (we didn't have dolphins).

And Lulu the puppy dog even made the trip. It was her first boat ride too!

2011-07-18T09:12:00.004-05:00

Here are some pictures from The Track! This was JB's favorite place we went. She was so brave and Mommy and Daddy were so nervous watching her ride everything by herself like a big girl.

Yep, that's Jane Baird at the very top!

Her favorite ride was the swings. She rode about 15 times!

Daddy and JB riding the bumper boats. Notice how dry they are!

Not so dry anymore!

This was her very first ride on the swings. She looked so nervous and held on for dear life!

2011-07-18T00:34:00.001-05:00

After a day of fun at the beach, we had dinner at DeSoto's (which was WONDERFUL!) and then headed to The Track. Jane Baird LOVED playing at The Track. They had an area just for little kids with amusement park rides and JB rode all by herself. She was so brave and wanted to ride everything!

Waiting to eat dinner!

How pitiful is this face! She had to sit on the "time out stump" for running into the parking lot.

2011-07-11T10:26:00.003-05:00

More from day 2

While we were waiting on the beach for the fireworks (we had 2 hrs to kill) we let Jane Baird run around and play and of course I TRIED to take some cute beach pics, but she wasn't having it at all!

Day 2 continued

2011-07-10T20:37:00.003-05:00

Day 2 Part 2

After the zoo, we had lunch and it was nap time for Jane Baird. After nap, we hit the beach! After beach it was dinner at Bubba's and then back to the beach for the fireworks show at 9! We hung out at on the beach for 2 hours waiting on 9 o'clock...not easy entertaining a sleepy 2 year old for 2 hours. Thankfully other people were shooting fireworks early and we got watch. Jane Baird really liked watching the show!

She saw Daddy reading a book on the couch so she decided to join him. She found a Danielle Steele novel in the basket by the couch. Hilarious!

Dinner at Bubba's

Day 2

2011-07-10T15:53:00.010-05:00

Day 2 Part 1

JB and I woke up early and went to get Daddy some coffee and doughnuts for breakfast. On the way we saw a sign that said "The Little Zoo that Could." We decided that would be a great way to start our day. We ate breakfast, Daddy drank his coffee and we were off to the Gulf Coast Zoo! It was more like a farm than a zoo, but they had some animals that the B'ham zoo doesn't have such as bears. All animals were easily seen and that was nice for JB. Her favorite was the burping goats! The goats were so funny and they would come right up to the fence and make their goat noises. JB said "Goats burp!" And it did sound like a burp. Video clip of the "burping goats" at the bottom of this post.

These little rides are all over Orange Beach, Gulf Shores, and Foley. We spent a fortune in quarters letting her ride all of the rides!

She was bossy to this pony. She told him "Go over there!"

Burping goats

Sad b/c she wasn't ready to move on to the next animal. Daddy was trying to convince her to leave the goats and go see what animal was next...

sweetness!

another riding toy!

Headed South!

2011-07-10T13:29:00.005-05:00

The only way I'll ever get my beach pics on here is if I upload them in an organized manner so here it goes with day 1.

DAY 1

We left our house at 6 am Sunday morning July 3rd. (Yep, 6am. That's how excited we were!) and headed south. We drove until JB figured out how to unbuckle part of her car seat about 3 hours into our trip. We had to pull over and fix it and then back on the road. We did not get into any traffic at all which was surprising because it was 4th of July weekend. We drove to Foley and stopped at the outlet malls and ate lunch.

After a brief stop at the outlet malls, we headed to Orange Beach. We made it to our condo and unloaded the car which was packed FULL. We took Alan's Sequoia and even had to take out the 3rd row of seats just to fit all of our stuff! I unpacked all of our clothes, toiletries, and food the minute we arrived. Next, we went to the BEACH!

Jane Baird refused to stand in the ocean and was terrified when the waves crashed into the shore. She wanted to be held if we were anywhere near the water. She didn't like walking through the sand either (neither did Mommy...quite a workout and we had a long walk) but loved playing in it and eating it. She would lick her hands and then crunch on it. Yuck! I would make her spit it out and then a few minutes later I would hear that crunching sound again. After a little play time on the beach, we swam for a little while at the condo's pool.

We all went back to the condo to get ready for dinner. I had purchased some restaurant.com gift certificates to a few places with good reviews so we were were going to use those up first. We had planned to go to Bubba's Seafood (Alan's favorite) but the wait was 2hrs so we went to Franco's instead. Jane Baird prefers Italian to seafood and she was starving. We had an hour wait so she entertained the crowd while we waited. She got lots of attention and ate it up! She put on a big show with all of her dance moves. I can't tell you how many people came up to us and told us how precious she was.

We ended up getting our dinner to go because it was just taking way too long and JB was getting tired. We went back to our condo and JB crashed! That was the end of Day 1.

Breakfast before we leave for the BEACH!

Enjoying the beach :)

Playing with her sand toys

Crashed at the end of the night!

Waiting to be seated for dinner

About to start jumping off the bench

Posing for a picture. She HATES to be photographed...guess I've worn her out ;)

BEACH!!!

2011-07-09T14:40:00.003-05:00

We just got home from the beach! This was our first family vacation since Jane Baird came into our lives. Yes, we have been a lot of places with her including a quick weekend trip to the beach for a wedding 2 years ago, but that's not a real vacation. Last summer we said that we were going to go somewhere, but we were still recovering from summer 2009 when JB was hospitalized for several months; all I really wanted last summer was to be at home with a healthy baby! This year we took a real vacation and had so much fun!

We went to Orange Beach, Alabama and the weather was beautiful the entire week even though the forecast called for rain every day. We stayed at a cute little condo that I found on vrbo.com. It turned out to be exactly what we needed and hoped for (I got such a good deal on it so I was worried that it might be a dump). Jane Baird really liked it and had fun exploring. She even got her own room which she was very proud of. She only took naps in there, but it was still her room.

I know I always get to detailed in my posts and I don't want to bore you with all the details of our vacation, so I'll keep this one short. Some of our favorite things that we did were the beach, The Gulf Shores Zoo, The Track (we had so much fun here we went back for more another night), Dolphin Cruise, and last but not least, EAT!

We took about 500 pictures (big shocker, right?) so I'll post a few here and there when I get time.

What a week!

2011-06-28T22:10:00.005-05:00

What a week! I feel like I say that in every post, but this week I mean it times 10! Alan took me out for my birthday on Saturday and I wasn't really feeling that well. About 4 a.m. Sunday morning I wake up with HORRIBLE stomach pains. To make a long story short I end up driving myself to the emergency room (which is not but a mile from my house) I was hurting so bad I could barely walk and I was throwing up. I got myself checked in and was crying and begging for relief. A CT scan revealed that I had a very large kidney stone stuck at the opening of my right kidney and it was blocking urine flow. I ended up having to have surgery this morning to remove the stone. I am feeling much better but still in a lot of pain. The surgeon left a stint in just in case there are fragments that need to pass, so that is probably the main source of my discomfort; I am so thankful to be rid of the stone!

Everyone who knows Alan knows what a wonderful, kind, caring person he is, but I have to really brag on him because he has gone above and beyond this weekend. Not only has he cared for me, but for Jane Baird as well. She has really been trying to take advantage of him and has also been a little jealous that she is having to share him with me. Alan has cooked every meal for me and JB, washed every dish, washed and folded laundry, dropped off my many prescriptions and then turned right back around to pick them up. He even has been blow drying my hair. Anyway I am so appreciative of all that he has done and wanted to brag on him a little. Thank you, Alan! Jane Baird and I are the luckiest girls to have you!

In music class we always joke that JB is a little OCD about having the instruments sorted and lined up. She also likes to line up her shoes at home. This is what I saw when I walked into the kitchen...

After lining all of the Powerades up, she was playing "Duck, Duck, Goose!" I thought that was pretty creative!

Getting her "ducks" in a row

Winn dixie had these on sale and then I had coupons to make the deal even sweeter. We got 60 powerades for about $18 (and no, I didn't clear the shelves; there were plenty left for other customers)

Friday night we converted her crib to a day bed. We didn't have a rail for it and she fell out of it about 30 seconds after we left the room. She wasn't hurt but she was scared. Saturday we went to Wal-Mart to buy a rail. She so proud of her big girl bed!

2011-06-24T00:25:00.003-05:00

Jane Baird singing to me on my birthday!

Jack and Hayes went to Bible School every night with us and each night on the way home we talk about what we learned during Bible class. Tonight we all told what our lesson was about and then we got on the subject of keeping Jesus in our hearts. I was going on and on about doing the right things and so on.

Hayes: Meme, could you be quiet?

Me: Did you just tell me to be quiet?

Hayes: Yes.

Me: Why, am I scaring you? (Because Jack brought up the devil and we ended up discussing the devil for a few minute and I thought maybe that was scary to a 4 year old)

Hayes: No, you are not scaring me, you are just annoying me!

Me: Did you just tell my that I was annoying?

Hayes: Yep!

Hayes is 4!

2011-06-24T00:15:00.003-05:00

We have been really busy lately and having been going, going, going everyday. We had VBS at a friend's church this week. JB really enjoyed going every night. She especially liked that we sang lots of songs. She would say, "Mommy, I want music." Tuesday was my 32nd birthday. I don't really get excited about birthdays anymore--just happy to have another one each year. Jane Baird made my day extra special this year. Daddy had a talk with her about being extra sweet to Mommy and she was. She even sang to me :) I'll post a video of that because its too cute! Today we went to our Art and Music classes. As always, we had a blast. Jane Baird gets really excited to go every Thursday and I can really tell that she is learning so much.

Here is a video of JB being silly. She is so funny!

2011-06-23T22:01:00.004-05:00

Tonight was the last night of Bible School at our friends' church. I curled Jane Baird's hair with a curling iron and the curl stayed so I decided to take a few pics before we left for church. By the time we got outside most of the curl had fallen out but it still looked cute! I didn't plan on the photo shoot, but she was actually listening and following directions so I went with it!

Fun, Fun, Fun!!!

2011-06-15T21:04:00.002-05:00

This past week has been so much fun! Last Thursday we went to Bubble Camp at Gymboree Play & Music. We had Music class first. This week's theme was Broadway...not my favorite or most familiar genre, but it was fun and Jane Baird participated more than last week. After music class we went to Art class. The theme was nature and the kids got to paint a picture and then worked on a cooperative painting project. They listened to a story, had a little snack and then got to play in the "tactile table." The surprise in the table was beans and the kids LOVED playing in them! It was hard to say good-bye to the beans, but up next was dress up time! Jane Baird dressed up as a pig and then the kids got to look at themselves in the mirror. We danced around the room in our costumes to a cute little song.

After leaving Gymboree, we called my nephew Cameron and invited him to lunch. He is home from college for the summer and working in downtown B'ham at his summer job. Jane Baird enjoyed being around him. He has had so much fun during his first year of college that he had forgotten to come visit us :(

When we got home Jane Baird was ready for a nap. After nap time we went to my parent's house to see my sister in her family (Reagan, Drew, Reese, Davis) We only see them twice a year because they live so far away. Jane Baird kisses Reese's picture almost every night and talks about her a lot. All of the kids got along and enjoyed spending time with each other.

Saturday we all drove to Mississippi to visit with my grandmother. Jane Baird has been asking to go see "Grandma Puddin" for a while. We ran into my neighbor at the grocery store last week (she is an older lady) and JB said "Hey, Grandma Puddin!" So JB finally got to visit her.

We spent all week playing, swimming, laughing together. Reagan and her family left this morning and JB is sad :( I put her down for a nap earlier and she said "Mommy, I see Reese and Davis (when I) wake up." Later we drove past my parents subdivision and she said "I see Reese and Davis!" I wish they loved closer. Goodbyes are sad.

Tomorrow we go back to Music and Art class! Jane Baird is excited and Mommy is too!

2011-06-08T17:09:00.003-05:00

Monday Jane Baird's cousins came for a visit. They invited us to go to Birmingham with them for a little shopping. Jane Baird got to spend some good quality time with Jordan and Samantha. We had lots of fun!

I picked up a Chore Chart while at Target. I thought Jane Baird would like that and it would help me out by teaching and encouraging responsibility and establishing a summer time routine. We started on Tuesday and Jane Baird got smiley faces for all the chores she completed. She was very proud of them :) I hope that I will be able (and remember) to complete the chart every day.

2011-06-05T08:18:00.002-05:00

2011-06-05T07:19:00.002-05:00

2011-06-05T06:39:00.003-05:00

2011-06-05T06:13:00.002-05:00

We (Alan) have made a lot of progress on our backyard project. Yesterday Alan (with some help from me) put the play set together. Jane Baird played at her water table while Daddy worked on the beginning stages of the project. We wanted to surprise her and she had no idea what Daddy was working on. (She was too busy pouring water on Tallulah or on Daddy's feet and even Daddy's head when he would let her) After lunch JB went down for a nap and slept for 3 1/2 hours and Alan and I kicked into high gear trying to finish putting her play set together so it would be finished by the time she woke up. Around 5:30 I heard Jane Baird. She had climbed out of her bed and was standing at the door. Daddy had just hung the swing and that was the very last step. Perfect timing!

Well this "little" project keeps getting more expensive everyday :/

Renting a sod cutter for $60/day

42 bags of rubber mulch (and still need about 20 more bags)

Play set

water table

outdoor chairs (I've only bought 2 so far and need about 3 more)

sand for sand box

foot path with concrete pavers

trip to Urgent Care for broken toes

trip to orthopedist for broken toes

10 day follow up with orthopedist for broken toes

new screen for screen porch door (that Tallulah busted through)

new gate latches

JB sized picnic table (not purchased yet)

and I could keep going...

AND last night we went to Home Depot and spent another $100 on one of those glider swings because JB keeps falling of her little swing because she doesn't quite know how to get on it properly. She knows how to ROCK the glider swing though (b/c she is a master seasawer)and since there is only one swing on the playset, a glider will seat 2 people.

It's all going to be worth it when everything is finished so I'm not complaining...I'll just have to coupon a little harder the next few weeks! I'll post some pics soon.

Happy Plate!

2011-06-05T05:55:00.004-05:00

Jane Baird is not a great eater, but she is FINALLY starting to eat more. Alan and I tell her that if she eats everything on her plate she will have a "happy plate." (And there is a little happy song we sing when we make a "happy plate" and she REALLY wants to be able to sing it) For two weeks straight she has tried and tried to make her plate happy, but she just hasn't been able do it; she doesn't like what I make or gets distracted or gets full. Today was her day! We had pancakes for breakfast and she ate every bite and even licked the syrup clean. For lunch she had strawberries and spaghetti and ate every last bite! She must have really worked up her appetite playing in the water outside. She wanted me to take her picture with her happy plate at breakfast so I did and I took it again after lunch.

2011-06-03T22:12:00.006-05:00

Pictures from our Play and Learn class. JB was all over the place. If there was a thing to be climbed, she climbed it. If there was a bridge to cross, she crossed it. If there was a surface to balance upon, she balanced upon it! I just love how she doesn't waste any time--she gets right down to business! Not a single surface was left untouched.

Jane Baird and Rosie

2011-06-03T21:21:00.002-05:00

2011-06-03T21:04:00.003-05:00

This is the Freeze song that JB liked so much during the Play and Learn class.

2011-06-03T20:29:00.002-05:00

What a super fun day we had today!!! My goal for this summer was to get out of the house for a special day with my sweet little girl at least once a week. We've had a busy week, but today was OUR special day together. We went for a Gymboree Music class and a Play and Learn class in Birmingham. It was SO much fun!

First we had a 45 minute music class. Jane Baird learned about rhythm and the theme this week was 80's music. We listened to songs and tapped sticks when we heard certain rhythms. Then we played with scarves and danced to Kool & the Gang's "Celebration" and every time we heard "yahoo" in the song, we threw the scarves in the air. The kids loved that part. They got out a huge box on instruments and let the kids pretend they were in a marching band and everyone got to pick out different instruments to march with. Then the kids got to play on these huge drums. We tapped all of the kids names in rythm and other words that were familiar to the children. They gave out stamps at the end of class and Jane Baird LOVES to get stamps. I did not get any pics during this class because I was fully participating :)

We had a 15 minute break before the next class began so JB played with the other children while I chatted with some of the other moms. Next was the Play and Learn class. This was right up Jane Baird's alley! It was a huge room full of things to climb and play on. We sang songs, danced, blew and chased after bubbles, and had a little puppet show. I was able to get a few pics (which I will post later) and a video of JB's favorite song--The Freeze Song.

After the 2nd class we went to Target and bought Jane Baird a couple new swim suits and some items for our much anticipated BEACH VACATION!!! After 2 classes and shopping we were so tired. We ate lunch and then headed home. We went to my parents house to swim this afternoon and Daddy came over after work to cool off with a refreshing dip in the pool. Then mom and dad grilled burgers and we ate. Now Daddy is working on JB's new swing set!!! Hopefully that will be completed and I'll have pics tomorrow.

Too cute!

2011-06-02T20:54:00.003-05:00

I videoed this after bath time. She insisted that she wear Hayes' shirt (it says "my brother idolizes me") and her "Maggie jom joms" (pajama pants that she got from her best friend Maggie). She tried to wear that shirt out in public but I had to put my foot down!

Jane Baird can count to 10 and I was trying to catch her counting on video but she was uncooperative. This was like take 12 and again, she was uncooperative with the counting but she did a great job with her singing. She LOVES to sing!!!

I'm Yours

2011-06-02T16:33:00.003-05:00

What a fun day! I had to babysit Hayes for a little while b/c Morgan had a class this morning and my dad had a dr. app. Jane Baird was sooooo excited that Hayes was going to be with us. I had planned a "couponing" trip to Winn Dixie so I took the two of them with me (I know, KRAZY!) but my list and coupons were very organized so I didn't think I would have too many problems out of the kids. We got the shopping cart with the 2 steering wheels so they could pretend like they were driving. They were so silly and cute and everyone in the store got a kick out of them singing and playing. Wish I could have videoed that! Anyway my trip was a SUCCESS!!! My bill before rewards card and coupons was $171.58 and after rewards card and coupons I got the bill down to $68. Yep, over $103 in savings. That's the best I've ever done. Hayes, Jane Baird, and I all high fived at the register :)

This is a video of JB singing "I'm Yours" in the parking lot. I couldn't get the first part b/c I was driving but it was hilarious because she was shaking her head with attitude like she meant it. She always gets a little shy when I start to video her.

After our grocery trip, we went home to unload groceries and then off to Chick-Fil-A for lunch and play. I let them play for a long time and then we went to pick up JB's new play set. It's still in the box and may remain in the box for a while. Alan doesn't have an air conditioned job so he is hot and tired when he gets home and not in the mood to go work outside some more. I may end up hiring someone to do it :) Any takers???

2011-06-01T13:47:00.002-05:00

This morning I was so tired. It was around 8:30 and I heard Jane Baird rockin' and rollin' in her baby bed. I was trying to wake up enough to go get her. It sounded like she was having a good time so I gave myself a few extra minutes to wake up. Before I knew it, she was climbing out of her crib completely naked and running into my room with a big smile on her face. What a great way to start the day!!!

Today was going to be day 1 of potty training day. I remembered my plans to start around 2pm...

So at 2 I put her on the potty. She sat up there like a big girl and said, "Here it comes!" She tinkled the smallest little tinkle that can be heard (but I did hear it) and then said "I wanna see 'em!" Her reward was opening up her new pull ups wipes and flushing the potty. Then she got to wear her new Yo Gabba Gabba panties over her diaper. I told her to lay down so I could put them on her and she said "No, Mommy. I want to lay up" (She calls lay down lay up...not sure why, but we always laugh about it) Normally she would get a sweet treat, but we are out of M&M's. She told Daddy to bring some home from work :)

I will try to post pics soon!

Backyard project -----> Broken toe

2011-05-31T17:04:00.002-05:00

Our dog, Tallulah has taken over our backyard and I've decided to reclaim part of it for Jane Baird. Jane Baird LOVES to be outside but our dog (who is almost the size of a horse) has run down all the grass and when it rains it gets muddy and its just a mess. After a play date at a friend's house I decided that I was going to come up with a solution.

Our backyard is divided into two parts separated by a little picket fence. Tallulah has the back of the yard and the front part belongs to Jane Baird. We scrubbed the screened in porch from top to bottom (because Tallulah and all her red dirt and mud had taken it over). We bought a water table for JB to play with on the porch and a couple of chairs for relaxing. We bought some concrete stepping stones to make a walking path to JB's outside play area and we mulched the entire area with rubber mulch, which was quite expensive! We started out with 12 bags (because its a small area) and then went back for 20 more bags and then another 10 bags!!! At $5 a bag, it added up quickly...but its guaranteed for 12 years and will not attract bugs so I guess its worth it. I ordered her a play set at Sears and it will be arriving in a few days. Like I mentioned, its a small area so it had to be a small play set. It's got a slide with a fort, a sandbox, and a swing which we want to replace with a glider swing. She is going to be over the moon when she sees it!!! I cannot wait. Every time we pass a yard with a swing set or a park or even a fast food restaurant with a playground she says, "Mommy, I want to play!" I've been feeling like we were depriving her, but not any more!

Ok, so to the broken toe part... So Thursday evening we were laying the concrete pavers down to make a foot path. Alan got off work just before dark and we wanted to try to finish it up before dark. There was a stepping stone leaning against the porch and JB thought she was going to pick it up to help Daddy. Tallulah bumped into her and it fell over on her little toes. She screamed out like I'd never heard her scream before. Her toes immediately started turning black so we rushed to Urgent Care for xrays. She was still screaming when we arrived...this was the worst pain I've ever seen her in and everyone knows that she has been through a lot in her 2 years. The doctor came in to relocate her toe that had been dislocated out of place and let me just tell you, it was the most horrific procedure I've witnessed. Jane Baird nearly went through the roof and her Daddy and I were crying. I know it had to be done, but it was so hard to watch. Anyway she got immediate relief after her toe was put back in place. The coloring changed immediately too. It went from black to light purple. Not only did she break one and dislocate one, but her toes were skinned and cut pretty badly. We went to see an orthopedist on Friday and JB wouldn't let him come near her feet. He looked at the xrays and said she would eventually heal. She walked with a pretty noticeable limp all weekend, but is almost back to normal now.

Jane Baird has had lots of aquatic therapy. We spent the entire weekend poolside at my parents house. It was so nice to soak up the sun and be lazy for a few days. Eating my dad's bbq wasn't so bad either! Jane Baird LOVES to swim. She calls the pool the "baths" and says "Mommy, I wanna take a baths" when she wants to swim. She is such a dare devil. She jumps off the diving board (with daddy's help and Mommy to catch) but she keeps telling Daddy to "go away" so she can jump by herself. We just had the best weekend ever! I can't wait until our beach vacation!!!