4 years of Christian

Her actual "BIRTH" day! I remember staring at the picture thinking she is the prettiest baby every born. She must have a little jaundice in this picture b/c she's never been this tan::):)
Her first birthday

2nd Birthday

3rd birthday

Today, my precious little girl, Christian, turns FOUR years old! When did I become old enough to have a four year old! I can't believe she is already four years old, yet I feel like I can't remember my life without her. She is just the cutest, smartest, prettiest thing around. I can't get enough of this little girl. She is as girly as they come and a little Miss Priss.

She was so excited to go to bed last night so she could wake up this morning as a 4 year old. She picked out a dress to make sure she looked beautiful on her birthday and told me that she didn't need a big bow now that she was old (we'll discuss this later...no reason to burst her bubble on her birthday, right!?).

She also told me that she needed to take a nap so that she wouldn't have those lines coming out from her eyes (wrinkles!).....I think she's taking this 'getting old' thing a bit too seriously!

Happy Birthday Christian!

When the Mice are away, the Cats will play!

While the girls were at my parents, we had a fun night out with friends. We headed to Do Di Yos for dinner, which was great. Even though the air wasn't working and they stuck us in a secluded corner, we still had a fun fun time completing our sentences and not picking food up from the floor! Then we headed to Jackson's for drinks afterwards. I feel like it's been FOREVER since I've had a night like Friday, and it was so much fun!

Saturday, Bryan and I slept in then headed to my school to get my classroom in order for next year. I know it seems early, but I am gone every weekend in July and August will be here before ya know it! My room is clean and organized and ready for school.....now I just have to work on ME being ready:):):)

Saturday night, we strolled around the mall shopping for sunglasses, which apparently is not easy for me! I finally narrowed it down to two pair but ultimately walked away empty handed b/c the salesman was annoying. Then we enjoyed dinner out and a quick stop into Buy Buy Baby (THE BEST baby store EVER!!! they have absolutely EVERYTHING. if you have a kid, you have to go........ and if you don't have a kid- don't go b/c it might scare you enough to not want them!!!)
Sunday, we headed to church and actually made it on time! We were ready 15 minutes early and didn't know what to do:):):)

It was a very very productive weekend, but boy did we miss our girls. It sure is quiet around here without them.

Grandparent hangover!

They both sat like this FOREVER! I might start bringing the stroller inside my house when I need to get some things done around the house!
baking cookies!

CC had a date with Papaw to the IMAX theater to see a movie- complete with a purse she found at GiGi's house! She even got in free because the people behind the counter thought she was cute!! She's a cheap date!

Aren't these the funniest 3-D glasses you have ever seen!?

just cute as a button and in need of a bow!

Okay Papaw- don't get mad b/c I put this up here.....you and CC will both want to remember this moment. CC dressed up in all the scarfs she got at GiGi's and put on a dance show for everyone. Looks like she recruited Papaw to join in!

The girls stayed at my parents house while I came back to get my classroom ready for next year. So, they were spoiled rotten from Friday until Sunday afternoon and LOVED every minute of it! Grandparents will do anythign for their grandkids! Just look at the 2nd to last picture!

To GiGi's house we go

CC found Gigi's scarf drawer and some of her 'Red Hatters' hats. She has been wearing them non stop!
sweet Emory in my Gran's yard.

It seems like we have a ton of family Easter pictures in this exact spot, so I wanted one of my girls and me.

The tree in the back of Gran's house.

My Gran's grave with CC putting the picture she painted for her. McKenney is Christian's middle name.

The picture she made for Gigi. She is put a lot of time and effort into this picture.

Thursday morning, the girls and I headed to my parents for the day (me) and the weekend (the girls). We picked my mom up and went to Thomaston, Ga to visit my Gran's house and grave. My Gran had 3 sisters and 2 brothers.. could you imagine having that many kids...whew!?Anyway, we were lucky enough to see her two living sister which live next door to her. My Gran had her stroke when CC was 6 months old, and she never moved back into her house. One thing she wanted was for Christian to see her house. So , I loved seeing CC and Emory running around and looking at stuff just like my cousin and I did so many times.

Flower girl duties

I can't get over how little Emory looks and how I have already forgotten that she would constantly stick her tongue out:):): Bryan and I were just talking the other day about how all of a sudden she went from baby to toddler!


Doesn't Courtney and Christian look beautiful!


This is my favorite!


Making sure she gets all of the flowers out of her basket... Completing her job as flower girl. When she was in shanna's wedding in May I didn't put as many in the basket and she ran out!



Is she saying the pledge??!


This past December Christian and I were in my cousin's wedding. Here are some adorable pictures of the big day and CC in action!

tonsil recovery

Fran and Lucy came to visit us on Friday....all smiles.
Aunt Paige and Mason came to visit on Saturday (no pictures) and luckily CC was in a fine mood. Gran and Papaw came up for a few hours on Sunday to visit. They brought her a wedding dress which helped her to forget to whine for a little while!!!


Most of you know I am a special education teacher. Well, when I was in college doing my internship, we had a group meeting towards the end with our professor. She asked us what were some things we did in our intern when dealing with difficult behavior problems. I piped up with "I always say '3,2,1....1,2,3....what the hell is happening to me!" which always makes me giggle and calm down a bit'. Well, the teacher was really looking for more strategies that we had learned in class but liked my little tool to stay calm!
Anyway, the reason I am telling you this is because I have had to say "3,2,1...1,2,3...what the hell is happening to me' many times during the tonsil recovery period! The first 2 days were a breeze. Christian ate and drank without a problem. But she woke up Saturday morning screaming and crying that her throat hurt. I think she didn't quite know what to do with the all the pain b/c EVERYTHING made her upset- EVERYTHING! She would want one thing, then when I gave it to her she would cry and want something different. We had to fight to get her to take her medicine (which made her feel weird) and drink. She was extremely whining and in turn, I became extremely 'winey' at night::):):). I've never had my tonsils out, but I hear it's horrible, so I had a hard time getting on to her b/c I know she felt bad. Now is back to normal and feeling 100%- thank goodness.
Feel free to use my little saying....it really does help to lighten the mood whenever you are about to loose it!!!!

FATHER'S DAY FUN!

I believe I found and married my best friend and wonderful hubby because of this man-my daddy! You know they say you marry someone that reminds you of your dad. I think one of the best qualities to have is being nice....nice to everyone. and that is my dad. He is a great friend to my mom and me, and he's never met a stranger. He's fun, funny, laid back (sometimes:):)), kind, generous, and understanding. I just love him. and we all get as excited as Christian is in this picture when we see him.

And I'm so happy my girls will have a Daddy like I do. He is so involved and patient with all of our girl drama we have daily! He is absolutely the best and even though we may not always show it, all three of us girls know we have the best man ever in our lives.

he will even hop in the big redneck blow up pool in the backyard to have a tea party!

I put these in sepia thinking maybe we wouldn't look as redneck as we felt! But we all had fun!

Today, for Father's Day Bryan woke up to breakfast in bed and homemade cards and presents. Then we headed to church with naps afterwards. Then we jumped in our bath suits, grabbed a beach ball, and headed for the blow up pool outside. We finished up with a big dinner and golf on TV......hope everyone had a fun father's day.

weekend recap

Friday we grilled out with the Meacham's.
The night took a funny turn where we ended up playing drinking games! I got to create a rule....modified 'invisible man' rule. In case anyone is playing a game soon where you get to create a rule.......you have a little man on your drink (in our case we had Disney characters) and every time you take a sip you have to remove your little man. Then put him back when finished drinking. Okay, so as I'm typing this out it sounds kinda silly...but it sure was fun on Friday!...hehehe!

great picture (notice Cinderella watching over Angela's drink!!)

Then Saturday, we headed to the Baron's game. The big girls like the switch cars, so we had Sophia on the way there. I think Emory was confused b/c she just kept staring at her.

Our plan was to have the little ones in the stroller and they would fall asleep

CC and Sophia had a blast and a hard time staying in one place!

This picture was taken at about 10:15....our plan didn't work AT ALL! Both the girls were putting all their effort into staying awake instead of sleeping.

We even tried to put the shade in front of her to block her from seeing anything.....didn't work

We tried to stick around for the fireworks, but after the 12th inning the game was still tied....we left. Even though we spent more time pushing a stroller and asking the girls to 'come here', 'watch out for other people', and ' be good so you can have ice cream'- it was still a great time.

Tonsils....Smonsils

nothing to do with this post....but it sure does make me giggle! She will kill me one day for posting this pic but her little wedgie was adorable!
We woke up this morning, picked out our Christmas jammies to wear (a battle I decided not to pick), and headed to the doctor.

even though we hid, they still found us!

with all the waiting, CC was ready to go. We walked her to the door, but she went back without a problem.

I hopped in bed so we could cuddled and eat popsicles. CC was even trying to smile even after her surgery.

After many date changes and back and forth with insurance people, Christian had her tonsils and adenoids removed today. Mimi and Grandaddy came in town Wednesday to play with us, then keep Emory while we were at the hospital. The girls swam like crazy at the hotel the night before. CC went down the slide and swam to the side all by herself (and her swimmies). Emory loved the water and the stairs. We woke up early and headed to hospital at 7:15. We went straight into our own room to wait for CC to go back. Everyone was so nice and they made the whole experience easy and stress free for kids (and mamas!). She went back at 9:00, was back in the room by 10:00, and we were home by 11:30. Very fast and very easy. the doctor said her adenoids were enormous and her tonsils were huge. So her breathing, stuffiness, snoring, and ears should be a huge improvement once she is completely healed.

I now know why she picked her Christmas PJs to wear....b/c it felt like Christmas with all the presents she got!!! When we got home, she had a pile gifts with from us. Denise came by to bring her a goody bag from Ava, and Mimi and Grandaddy gave her movies, dolls, and dress up clothes. This girl is going to want to get her tonsils taken out more often!

She is drinking a ton and even wanting to eat, which are both good things. Although she is doing so well, the doctor said day 3 and 4 are the worst days b/c the scabs start to form which is very painful....so a fun weekend is ahead of us!

I'm so proud of my little tonsil/adenoid- free girl!

We had a fun weekend

Our weekend (part 3)

Monday, we headed to the zoo. Can you tell who had FUN in the splash pad?! We might just be spending most of our summer days here.

Then we had a Mommy/Daughter triple date with dinner and the new Shrek movie in 3D (which cost $24.5 for Christian and me to go to the movie- outrageous!). Shrek 4 is the funniest movie I have seen in a long time. I absolutely loved it and so did CC. It's a must see!