new normal

Look at CC in her new 'big girl' car seat- only strapped in my a seat belt!!!. It makes me extremely nervous, but she meets all the requirements......still I'm not sure if I like it!
Emory in Daddy's car

My friend, Denise, said she uses these with her little girl and helps cut down on the drama in the morning about what to wear (who knew it started so early!!!) So, I decided to buy them. I LOVE THEM!!! CC and I spend Sunday night picking out what she was going to wear and we are set for the entire week. All I have to do is grab there clothes from each day- no stressing out or drama about what we are wearing!

I also started e-mealz . I have heard about it from a few people and my friend, Angela, who is also a teacher said she just started it and loved it. So, I'm giving it a try....it's only $15 for 3 months. It gives you different meal plan options- we chose low fat meals from Wal-mart for 2 (we're hoping there is enough food left over for the girls!!). So it gives us recipes for 5 meals with a list of the food, prices, and which aisle to find it on at Wal-mart. For one week, all the ingredients for the 5 meals is $42! Not bad......hopefully I'll follow it!



this has nothing to do with this post, but I think they are cute. Last summer I bought a sand footprint kit thinking I just used what was inside to do their feet. Well, turns out I had do it at the beach. So we did them this year. Aren't they cute?! I plan to buy shadow boxes and hang them in their rooms. All it is is white plaster that you can buy at a craft store. you do a footprint in the sand, poor the mix. wait a certain amount of time. then place it in the sand for a little while to get the sand look. They would make precious gifts. I saved the instructions, so if I can remember I want to do them for end of the year gifts for the girls' classes.








So, after 15 fun months of being home with Emory and CC, I have headed back to work. My first day back was Aug. 9th and the kiddos came Aug. 12th. So far, so good! Bryan is taking the girls on the way to work, which they love riding in Daddy's car. I do hate being away from my girls for 8 hours a day and it's awfully quiet on the car ride in the mornings. But they love their school and so do I! We all 3 get so excited (actually make a little bit of a scene) when we see each other in the afternoons. Emory will immediately jump in my arms and wave and say "BYE" to her teachers. We hug and hug and kiss and kiss like crazy. CC comes running and squealing to me every day! I LOVE IT! We play NON-STOP when we get home b/c Emory is now going to bed at 6:15 and Christian at 7:30!
My sweet friend, Kelley, made us a wonderful dinner on my first day with students and my hubby sent me flowers on the first day! This is going to be a very interesting school year for me----I might have to use my saying from my college days (321,123,......!) quite often, but I know I'm gonna love everyone of my students like my own.
now.....only 178 more to go!!!

The Griswolds go to Gatlinburg!!!

We met my family that lives in northern Kentucky in Gatlinburg for a long weekend vacation- 19 of us!!!!. My Kentucky family is wild, crazy, and absolutely so much fun to be around. We crammed a lot into 3 days.....saw Santa, celebrated birthdays, rode go carts, shopped 'til we dropped, drank and ate way too much, and laughed until our side hurt!

Gymnastics

(these pictures are taken from my phone,so they aren't the best)







Emory and Elise loved running around like crazy girls, eating anything and everything. They would watch their sister every now and then






Sophia




Sophia and Christian had their first day if gymnastics today! The girls were out-of-control excited! They both were great and did everything that Ms. Hayden told them too. I think that they are going to love gymnastics----a lot better than soccer! They actually participated instead of sitting around talking...hehehe! Next week I'll remember my camera so I can get some better pictures and CC will actually have a leotard that fits over her hiney:):)


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15 months STATS

Emory weighs 24 lbs (65 %) and is 33 inches long (97%). I was shocked at her weight but the doctor said she is not concerned b/c 'both of her parents are long and lean".....EXACTLY how I describe Bryan and me!! I just kinda giggled when she said that
Where's Emory???

There she is!!

Emory had another great well-baby doctor's appointment. She was showing Dr. Habeeb some of her 'tricks'. She said her gums are very swollen, which is probably bothersome and might cause her to be cranky (she's right::):). So many teeth are on their way. She can consistently say dada, mama, bye-bye, na-na (banana), ma (more), again (in her own little way- hard to write down how she says it). The Dr. said about 3 words is average and with all her babbling she is about to just come out with a full sentence! She will tell us stories that I would LOVE to know what they are about. She LOVES LOVES LOVES to sing and does the motions to 'Itsy, bitsy, spider'. She goes to bed about 7:00 and wakes up around 7:00 every morning- napping from 11:30-2:30. She dances with actual rythm. I feel like she knows absolutely everything we say to her. We'll say "Do you want to take a bath? and she heads straight to the tub trying to take her clothes off. If we say 'do you want to go bye-bye?", she'll go to the door and try to open it.

She LOVES her sister. Whenever CC is still asleep, EMory will try to open her door. Then she will get on top of CC while she is asleep and start kissing her while squealing. It is the most precious thing EVER! She loves to climb and I will often find her on top of the table! She is starting to have her own opnion which also leads to some tantrums that are not fun! THe doctor told me that it's time start time out! I can't even imagine that working, but she said to turn her around so she can't see me and count to 30. I'm sure there will be a time soon that I can attempt it. But even when she is upset, she is still the cutest 15 month old I've ever laid eyes on. I love her to death. Oh- and we've upgraded to bigger bows (important stuff, huh?!)

First day, All day

This picture is from last week.....this is the table they sit in when they eat! Isn't it the cutest thing ever!!

This is my first attempt at getting a picture of both girls on their first full day of 4K and Toddler 1class. I feel like this is how it's going to be for the rest of our lives. CC following the rules and Emory breaking them (but still looking precious!)

Okay- 15 minutes later, they both were still for a picture together

Today when we got home, we were talking about our day, I asked Emory if they danced and she started dancing. So when Daddy got home I asked her again and she started dancing. We got it (somewhat) on video. I mean- is she not the CUTEST thing on the planet!!!

Both girls had a great first full day of school. Christian was a little upset this morning because she didn't want to nap at school, but she did fine. According to the teachers she was one of the first to fall asleep and didn't cry at all- WHEW! This was Emory's first day EVER sleeping on a cot, but they said she did wonderful. She went right to sleep and slept for 2 hours! Her daily report said she was 'full of smiles'!! I was one happy mama when I picked them up. I LOVE their little school and couldn't be happier.

Member-Guest

CC and cousin Gaines
Carter absolutely LOVED playing with Emory.

and she loved for him to pick her up like this and run around

We celebrated Gaines' 3rd bday- all the kiddos helping blow out the candles

How CUTE is he! doesn't Emory look JUST like him?! I think they could be twins.

Aunt/Godmother Paige gives CC a piece of silver for every bday. She explained to CC that she can use it when she gets married. So CC keeps wanting to look at it and says "I have a knife I'll use when I get married":):) She has no clue what she is saying but it makes her very happy!!!

Saturday night we headed to the golf club for the end of the tournament. They had dinner, drinks, and three singer/songwriters there that have written famous country songs. We sat up close and personal with them while they told the stories of each song. I mean- it was the neatest thing. Songs from singers like Carrie Underwood, Brad Paisley, Kenny Chesney, and Reba.

This weekend we headed to Bryan's parents for him to play in his dad's annual member-guest golf tournament. While they played golf, we hung out and let the cousins run wild together. They all had the best time playing and were perfect the whole weekend. What a fun weekend!!!

First Day of School for my Emory!

Emory wants to stand on the stool like sister does to brush her teeth. Today she refused to share and kept pushing CC off. Look at how cute she is looking up at her sister!
Every morning before we leave, I yell, "Time to brush our teeth". Usually I am saying it to CC, but lately Emory will RUN into the bathroom and climb on the stool waiting to brush her teeth. So cute!

Emory had a death grip on me this morning but went straight to Ms. Rose when she saw her toys. She didn't cry at all when I left and did great! I luckily had already dropped off everything she needed a few days last week. So all I had to do was hand her over- it made it much easier for her and me! I kept CC with me, so I didn't cry (hopefully that's a good sign but I doubt I'll go without crying when I drop both of my girls off....actually I'm about to cry right now just thinking about it!)

I am so excited for Emory! She is going to love her little class and her teachers. Now I just have to get used to not being with all day!


Since I start back to work August 9th, I have decided to slowly send Emory to her school. For 3 days this week, I am sending her a few hours in the morning. Today (according to the daily report) they sang songs, read, danced, rode in the bye-bye buggy, and played outside. They even write down the times they change her diaper, what she ate for snacks and lunch. She already had an incident report written up on her as well!!!!! Her first day there and she fell and got a big red knot of her head! That was the only time that she cried though....pretty good for her first day. I'm sure it will be better than I will do on my first day back at work!!! And tomorrow I will take a picture of her chunky little self sitting in the table eating lunch. It's the cutest thing I have ever seen! Next week, we will work on staying all day which includes napping on a cot- Ahhhhhhhh- is she big enough to do that?!!!!