Allie's pics - Part II

THANK YOU for ALL of your encouraging and helpful comments regarding G. I really appreciate all of them. I didn't want to leave you hanging on the subject, and wanted to report pull-ups are being bought. I'll let you know how he does with them. And now, for your second installment of photos by Allie. Enjoy!

I love seeing what this little girl photographs. There are many over exposed self portraits.

This one is quite nice. Sunrise in Hickory.

Here we have a picture of a picture of she and Aladdin.

cookie dough.

Pappy and Grammy on skype.

To pull-up?

(Once again, the photo is completely unrelated to this post.)


To pull-up or not to pull-up (at night that is)?


G is potty trained and we skipped the whole pull-up at night thing...going straight to undies 24/7.

He had done great, but now I've noticed G is consistently waking up wet at night. UGH!

I even tried the other night to wake G, as we were going to bed, and take him to the potty. That did not work. He was sleeping on the john.

I really don't want to take steps backward and put pull-ups on him.

Hmmm? I'm confused.

Black and White

I have a plethera of black and white photos on my hard drive right now...I'm officially addicted.

If you've dabbled at all in photoshop, you've realized there are many different ways to accomplish a black and white conversion.

I've struggled with this in the past....I just felt my black and white conversions looked a little muddy. I've finally found a way that works for me...and I can't get enough of it.

My mother-in-law also introduced me to textures. I have NO CLUE what I am doing, but I'm having fun experimenting. (The last photo has a texture on it).

SC friends

(Heads up...picture heavy post...and they aren't my kids. Might as well be though, I love them like my own. Steph - I apologize for not taking any of your kiddos...doesn't mean I love them any less! Same goes for you too, K and B...you know why your pics aren't on here....and R Family we just need to spend more time with you!)

We headed back to our former home this weekend, Greenville, SC.

The kids had a birthday party to attend...and I had some much needed catching up to do with our dear SC friends! It was such an enjoyable weekend hanging out with everyone. We squeezed in all the face time we could with everyone.

It wasn't enough though. I left feeling a little sad, wondering if we will ever develop those kinds of friendships here in Hickory. S reassured me we would. He always is so positive. I love that about him!

I miss it. I miss these sweet faces below. And we enjoyed every minute of our trip back!

Dirty

The only time of day this little guy is squeaky clean is right when he exits the bathtub.

I am amazed just how dirty little boys can be. Seriously. Always sticky, gooky, muddy, blue mouth, crumbs of who knows what in his hair, markered hands and face, etc...

I found G stuffing peanut butter between his toes a couple of days ago. Today, I noticed some major toejam. Apparently I had forgotten to clean out between his toes (who does this anyway?), and some gunk had built up on the sticky peanut butter.



Just another example of my little messy boy enjoying his popsicle with muddy hands.

I wouldn't have him any other way though! I'm starting to like my sticky Gabe kisses.

Freezing time

Our typical evening includes:

1) Dinner

2) Playtime (wrestle or crawl around the house meowing {not us the kids} and/or movie night (movie with popcorn. Always! And it can't be instant. We have to make popcorn the right way....with oil, and kernels, in a pot)

3) Bath

4) Brush teeth

5) Read book, pray, songs

The above photo shows momma's night off from item #5. S had to work late this particular day; so he offered to tuck both kids in for the night. I accepted, but after eavesdropping in on their fun, I ran downstairs to grab my camera. These two have one amazing daddy and it makes me smile when I am able to capture moments like this. It's like freezing time and I know one day they will appreciate having these photos.

Allie and Miss M

There is a sweet little lady that lives next door to us.


She likes to come outside and chat when she sees us out. She has especially taken a liking to the kids and is fulfilling grandmother duties here in Hickory since we don't have family nearby.


The other day we overheard the following conversation:


Miss M: Allie, when is your birthday?

Allie: Jan. 3.

Miss M: Well, I didn't know you just had a birthday. I would have made you a cake and got you a birthday card.

Allie: Well.....you still can.


Fast forward to the day after this conversation. The doorbell rings and there stands Miss M holding a strawberry cake with sprinkles and a birthday card.

She and Allie have also had conversations about how much Allie likes butterflies. I understand a butterfly house has been ordered and should arrive this week. We also have been invited to an easter egg hunt with Miss M and her family complete with 500 stuffed easter eggs. AAAANND, tonight she brought over chicken and dumplins because she made too much.

We are blessed to have such a sweet neighbor.

Bobby Flay?

I think Bobby Flay is a hottie. Taking a closer look, I see why...he reminds me of Stephen.

Bobby's eyes are a bit squintier, but...look at the mouth, the nose, the crows feet, the hairline?

Might be just me? What do you think?

Birthday party

Allie was uber excited for a princess birthday party that she was invited to this weekend.



She was hanging on my leg and being shy until the above little girl walked into the party. This is apparently Allie's buddy in her class at school. I constantly am hearing about the silly things they do together and how they laugh at boys on the playground.






It's good to see her making friends and feeling at home in our new home! Brings a big ole smile to this momma's face.

Pedicure

We have a daughter. We have a son.



When one kid does something....the other wants to do the exact same thing. What can I say? I pick my battles. This one....wasn't feeling the fight.



With that said, may I present, G's pedicure. I see a bright future for this kid!



On a more masculine note.....G came through the backdoor today with his pants around his ankles. He proudly tells me, "Mom, yook, peepeed in garage". Sure enough, I step out in our garage and see a wet circle. Funny thing is, since we moved into our new Hickree home, S has not allowed us to park in the garage. He is keeping the floors clean because he wants to epoxy the garage floor when the weather warms up.

Frugal

It's a daily challenge to find pants in our kids' closets that don't have holes in the knees.

Gabe follows his sisters lead and the two of them love to crawl around the house - Allie meowing and Gabe ribbitting. I play mother to these two animals A LOT!

G has lived in these cute little khaki courderoy pants this fall/winter. They have had holes in the knees the past half dozen times he has worn them. Holy pants....that's in style right?

So today coming from the backseat, I hear a rip.......and I find his cute little holy pants now have a rip from the knee down to the ground.

What can I say.....I'm frugal.

Ariel swimsuit

It was 40 degrees and raining yesterday and this what Allie wore for our afternoon spent at home. (My neighbor who popped in unexpectedly surely thinks we're nuts.)

Allie's little eyes lit up when she saw this $8 "Little Mermaid" aqua swimsuit hanging on the top shelf at Target the other day. With a Marco trip quickly approaching I knew she would more than likely need a new suit for this year. I grabbed a size 5 and we headed to checkout.

As soon as we arrived home she wanted to wear it. Her excitement was quickly crushed when I told her the swimsuit didn't fit and we had to take it back. Just crushed.

I went back for a size 4 yesterday. Fits perfect....along with the other size 4 swimsuits from last season. We've got a petite one!

Fly Fishing Tour

One thing is for certain, my husband loves to fish. Saltwater, freshwater, fly fishing...it just doesn't matter.

S is gearing up for a guided fly fishing extravaganza for this weekend. He has a buddy coming up from Pville to join him.

One little catch. RAIN! There is another storm coming through today, and it all rides on how much rain is dumped in WV (I think that's where they will be fishing).



I'm afraid his little day on the river is going to be rained out.



I guess he can always get his fix in in the comfort of our home, tying flies.

Uncle C

I ran across some photos of Allie and her Uncle C today as I was browsing through files from last month. They brought a smile to my face. Uncle C is SOOOOOOOOOOO good with the kids. I remember her little face would light up when he would start playing with her.



We are very lucky to have two wonderful uncles for our children - one in Nashville, TN and the other in Huntsville, AL....we only wish we got to spend more time with them!

Mommy's boy

Gabe is our early riser.

I am okay with this, because both of our kids go to bed at 8:00 and sleep all night.

G consistently comes crawling into our bed every morning about 6:00 a.m. I like to snuggle with the little guy. It's the unexcpected jabs and kicks to the face you have to watch out for.

So this past weekend, G climbs into our bed bright and early on Saturday morning...he lays there for a minute and I hear him whisper to Stephen, "Mommy's boy".

I couldn't help but let out a little laugh.

We have discovered G loves to say things just to get a rise out of people.

I have NOOOOOO idea where he gets this.

Sickness fog

We are slowly coming out of the sickness fog around here.

Allie has been on an antibiotic for three days now and I can tell she is feeling better. Her little tonsils are still swollen, but hopefully they will be back to normal within the next couple of days.

So far, G has steered clear of strep. Hopefully we will be back out in the real world in the next couple of days.

Better now than later - we've got plans the next 3 weekends. And, one of them involves a much needed trip down to FL to visit the grands.

Allie

{Update.....I took Allie in to the urgent care clinic tonight (again still working on getting approved at a real dr up here). She has strep and has been feverish all day. She wasn't able to keep down the meds they gave her........I guess we'll try again in the morning.}
_____________________________________________________________________________

So, I finally gave in and went to an urgent care clinic and got an antibiotic to kick this horrible sinus infection I've been dealing with for the past 2 1/2 weeks!

I feel like a new person and have enjoyed having energy again.

Allie however, woke this morning with a sore throat and fever. Bless her!

Here are a few shots of Allie from a couple of days ago. Happy Friday!