Why we have grandaddys

The kids sure do love going for rides with grandaddy. Gretchen will run over to him and just climb right up in his lap. This is the joy of living in Tifton. There are lots of thing that I don't like about this little town, but I know of a few Great reasons for being here. One is Grandmom and Grandad. This is time that my children are so lucky to have. I never knew my grandparents except for one of my grandmothers and even then we only saw her every few years. My kids get to see their Great Grandparents everyday. I know that they don't appreciate this privilege like they should, but to me it is priceless. I am also grateful that we get to spend time with Davids parents. They are so selfless to let us come in their home and take over their space. Nana helps with Gretchen so much. I can going to the grocery store all by myself. it is great.

rats in the house

Estella has a pet rat named Minnie. She loves that ugly rat so much. I can't believe that I let her get it, but as a mom you learn to compromise. She really wanted a pet donkey, oh and it was going to stay in her room with her. she was going to train it to go outside and everything. I knew that David had a pet rat when he was young so I thought it would be a good bonding thing for him and her so I told David to go take her to get one. She has had Minnie for almost 3 years. That is almost half of her life. Little did I know that rats don't have a very long life span. Back in September Minnie got really sick and I thought for sure she was going to die, so I tried to prepare Estella for it. David and Estella took her to the vet. they didn't think she would make it either. They gave her some antibiotics, and faithful Daddy gave it to the rat and gave the rat breathing treatment several times a day. I just prayed that somehow she would make it thru. Estella was really having a hard time with going to a new school and all the changes that had been taking place. I just worried that she couldn't handle loosing Minnie right then. Amazingly Minnie inproved and did well until about a week ago. I think Estella is more stable now and I have talked alot to her about minnie and letting her go. I think minnie will probably die soon, but I am so hgratful that she has held on a little longer till Estella could get more grounded. We will miss her but we know she will be waiting for us along with dutchess in heaven.

So there is this apartment complex that we always pass when we come to Tifton. When I was about 4 months pregnant with Amelia I suggested the name Amelia to David as we passed by the apartments. He said, uh no. then when we found out she was a girl I put it on the name list anyway. well then we decided that we really wanted to name her Hazel after Davids Grandmother. I never decide what I am going to name my kids till I see what they look like. I know most people think I am crazy, but hey to me they have to look like the name I choose. So with Amelia we know we were going to have her middle name be Hazel, so we had to figure out what name we wanted to go with it and the morning we went to have her David said how about Amelia. Isn't it so typical that a man has to feel like things are their idea. I told him that I suggested that names months ago, but of course he didn't remember. Well, as you all know we did end up naming her Amelia. I know it is sad that there isn't much meaning behind why we named her that besides an old apartment complex we would drive by, but atleast her middle name is very meaningful.

Anyway, since we have moved down here and Amelia can reconize letters she has noticed that the apartments have her name, so they are now HER apartments. Oh, and don't think you can try to explain it to her. She is determined that they are hers, infact Estella and Amelia have gotten into quite a few argurments over this. Amelia just tells Estella that she is just jealous because she doesn't have any apartments. Isn't childhood the greatest.

Gretchens 1st Birthday Aug 28, 2008

So it may be late but better than never right? I have been meaning to post these pictures since August. Gretchen had a great first birthday. We had to improvise since Aunt Annette is all the way in Atlanta, and I have no sams near by to cheat and go buy a cake, so I decided to do a strawberry one. She seemed to like it. I may have taken two cake decorating classes,but that don't mean they taught me patience. I just can't spend all that time decorating for someone to just cut it up and destroy all my hard work. I know I am so in the running for mother of the year Huh?

A Boy!

Did I read that right? It's a boy? I am still a bit unsure myself. Come on I don't make boys. The doctor says it is so I guess in about 4 months we will see if he is right. Estella is so excited. she wants a brother so bad. I keep telling her it isn't all its cracked up to be, no offence to my 4 wonderful brothers, but really all they do is pick on you. It has definitely been different this pregnancy. I was actually sick in the beginning. I have been so tired this time too. I guess I can't blame it all on the fact that its a boy I ain't getting any younger either. Really though we are all excited, except for Amelia- she really wanted another sister. I am sure as soon as the baby gets here she will be just fine. She was so great with Gretchen, and she is my little nurturer. She just loves little babies. Last week I was put in the hospital, because I was feeling like I was going to pass out. I think I was just overly tired, because Gretchen has an ear infection and I was up all night with her. they ran all kinds of crazy test, but couldn't find anything wrong so they sent me home!! thank goodness. It still happens a little here and there but for the most part I feel much better. Gretchen has been on her medicine for almost a week, but this morning she woke up with a 102 fever. It freaks me out when my kids start running high fevers. she is happy but burning up with fever.

The Happiest place on Earth

This past weekend we had the great opportunity to go to Disney World.It was so much fun. Travis and Sarah totally hooked us up. We went to the Magic Kingdom on Friday. The girls had a blast. We didn't meet any character's this time except for Donald( the only reason we met him was because we were in the right place at the right time and the line wasn't long) We decided that we weren't going to spend the entire day standing in line to meet people. The girls wanted to but we wanted to do things that we never had before. It was a great day the park was a bit crowded, but we still managed to do lots of things. We got back to Sarah's and I don't think I even remember my head hitting the pillow. I was so tired. Saturday Travis went with us to Hollywood studios. It was also a fun park,but I think it is geared toward a bit older children. the girls loved the honey I shrunk the kids play area, and they loved the toy story ride. We also saw the Muppets 3D show and we watched a parade. but by about 3:00 the girls really wanted to go back to Magic kingdom. David and I really enjoyed spending the day with Travis. It was nice to visit with him and hear how he was doing and what was going on in his life. We left there and went to Epcot. We met up with Sarah, and Travis was off to work, then we rode a few rides at epcot. Can I just tell you how fun Soarin is. Oh my gosh it was Awesome! we also did the nemo ride and test track. then it was back to the magic kingdom for the parade, Fire works and of course one more time on splash mountain. That is definitely the girls favorite ride. We also loved spending the evening with Sarah. The only problem was the girls fighting over her.

We then drug and I do mean drug ourselves to the car and back to Sarah's. Poor Sarah had to go to work at like 6:30am. We slept in till about 9:30 and packed up and headed for Tifton. It was a great trip THANK YOU SARAH AND TRAVIS! We Had a blast!!!

We didn't take Gretchen with us. She stayee with Auntie Helen. I am sure she had more fun here than she would have with us. maybe in about 3 years we will take her.

Oh how they grow

This week has been quite interesting. First I must take a few minutes to brag about Estella. She is student of the month, and she is SOOO excited about it. She spent several and I do mean several hours working on her poster that they hang outside the class so everyone can read about her. She filled in all kinds of interesting facts about herself, then came all the coloring of the entire paper. She finally finished the last little bit of coloring, when oh to her surprise Nathan ( her 2 year old cousin) decided to help her. While she was gone from the table Nathan made quite a few modification to the paper, mostly black crayon scribbling ones. To say the least she was devastated. So I went into school with her the next day and explained to the teacher what happened, she got a new poster and started all over. Estella Also has learned how to tie her shoes.This may seem like no big deal to you but to her and myself this is huge! Not quite as big as potty training or getting yourself dressed, but still it is big.


I also got the privilege of spending a lot of quality time with Granddaddy this week. We always t go to the gym together on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, but I guess Grandaddy just can't get enough time with me on those short drives or the weekly grocery store trips, so he decided on Wednesday to trim his fingernails with the table saw and kinda missed and caught the end of his thumb. Off we went to the emergency room to spend 5 and a half hours of "quality" time together. The first few hours were pretty boring we just sat around and made small talk, but then I started asking Granddaddy about different events in his life and wow how the time flew by. I learned so many interesting things about flying, marriage, raising children, etc.
Granddaddy is so great. I am glad that I was given the opportunity to take him. He makes me feel so loved and appreciated. In the end He got 7 stitches and a big bandage that I changed this morning. It is looking pretty good. No signs of infection.

Gretchen is officially a big girl. she is not nursing any more and she has the hang of the sippy cup. She has become best buddies with Granddaddy. She is also loving the fall weather. We have been playing out side all week and she loves it so much.

Amelia has had a few fun day at school. They had Red day Wednesday and she was determined that everything had to be red, even her panties, I told her that I didn't want her to show everyone her panties, she assured me that she wouldn't even though they were red. Today was dinosaur day, she decided she didn't want to do anything for it, but she seems to really like her new school. She has also really been getting into singing lately. This is a big deal to me because she has always been so quiet and don't want the attention on her. She don't sing in front of many people, but at least she is singing. She has learned some really cute songs at her new school, and she loves to carry around the primary song book and play church. Amelia has also been enjoying the weather and playing outside alot.

My Talents

Okay so Davids mom has asked us to share some of our hidden talents. I wouldn't say mine are hidden,but they are a bit unique. Lets see first of all there is the burping of the alphabet that I do so well. this is a talent that has taken a lot of practice to perfect. It started when I was on a swim team in my youth. I would drink so much water during practice that I would burp the whole way home. So my sisters and I started trying to make it interesting. I definately was the best at it.
My next "Talent" is that I can quiver my chin and make people really believe that I am upset and about to cry, The only problem with this "talent" is that everyone that is close to me knows that I can do it so it doesn't work anymore.

In other news,Estella had a very rough weekend. she was swimming Saturday and somehow feel on the concrete and hurt the palm of her had pretty bad. Then Sunday night she went to get in bed and she forgot that the ceiling fan in her room is really close to her bed and she leaned over the edge to look for something on Amelia's bed and well lets just say the ceiling fan won. she cut the right side of her head and we stayed up for several hours icing it and trying to get rid of her headache. I let her stay home from school yesterday. She seemed fine though so back to school she went today. Amelia got to bring home the share bag at school. we get to fill it up with thing that start with the letter C. she is very excited that it is her turn to do the share bag. We are going to make cookies to put in it this afternoon. Gretchen is doing good. I am only nursing right before she goes to bed. she is starting to sleep through the night more!!!!! I am very excited about that. Andrea came down to visit us this weekend. It was so nice to see her. The girls sure were glad to see her.Amelia keeps asking when is Hanga going to come back. David has been gone alot helping his dad with an air conditioning job, and I have been a bit sick this past week. I am starting to feel a lot better. I hope it last!

Okay so I went to doctor last week. I was so excited to find out how far along I was. The doctor said I was 9 weeks along. I was excited that I was that far along. The official due date is March 29th. That is my oldest Sister, Lynelle, birthday. I will probably have the baby a week early. I was lucky to get the chance to see my sister Annette give birth to her 3rd child this past Friday. It was very exciting he was a 8.8lb baby boy named Evan Jackson. Annette did great, but I must say that I am glad I have c- sections. I guess since that is all I know I am just scared of the other way. I was a bit jealous that she was able to eat right after she had the baby, and I have to wait like two days to eat after I have a baby. It really made me a little nervous to think about having to go thru this again, but I am excited to have another baby. I can't wait to see if it is another girl!!! I have a while till we find out. I have been a bit sick this time.

Also this week was Gretchen 1st birthday. I will post pictures later. she seemed to have a great time. Estella & Amelia were much more excited about her birthday than she was. well I better get back to work .

Amelia and her Gradaddy sitting on the swing together.

Okay so it hasn't even been a week and here I am again, blogging. I finally found our camera and so I have taken a few pictures. This week Amelia started school. She started on Wednesday. So far she loves it. she gets to pack her own snack everyday, so she is very excited about that. She also got a hold of the camera this week and took several pictures. She Loves to play with the camera. I told Nana, Amelia could probably teach her how to use her camera. This picture she took of herself. She is a busy bee around the house. She stays busy cleaning and organizing.

Gretchen Has had a very eventful few weeks, well not really she mostly sleeps, eats, poops, and walks around like she is a hot shot. she is really proud of herself for being able to walk. she just grins and laughs. if you will notice, it is kind of hard, she got her ears pierced. she has also started thinking about liking her grandaddy. she is just in the thinking stages, but they have made alot of progress this week. Grandaddy swung her in the swing the other evening. it was the sweetest thing to see them together. it makes this crazy small town life worth seeing my children spend time with grandmom and Grandad, and Nana and Pappa. Gretchen really Loves her pappa. she will go right over to him and be happy and content sitting with him.

Estella Has had a great week at school. She said she was going to make a new friend everyday. Her 2nd cousin Caitlin came home from school with us on Thursday. They had a great time playing together.
I got all my hair cut off this week. It is too stinkin hot down here to be trying to grow your hair out. I also found out this week that we are going to have another baby. We are all excited. We don't know how far along we are yet I go to the doctor on the 26th. That is about it for this week.

Settling In at the Inn

Well here I am trying to post to my own blog., where is Hanga when I need her.Of course it has been a while. Let's see where to start.... we are all moved in down here is hot south Georgia. It has been an adjustment. I thought that the girls would probably need a little while to adjust. They love living at Nana and Pappa's, but the not sleeping at night is about to drive me over the edge. They are scared of every new little sound. It is getting better though.

Estella started School Last Thursday. The first day was awful I felt so bad for her. she kept saying as long as she just imagined that she was at her other school, and her teacher was Mrs. Rogula(her teacher last year) that everything was fine. so The second day she cried and cried .She didn't want to go to school. I told her it would get better and sent her on her way. I worried about her all day hoping that she would have a better day. she came home Friday so happy and excited. I was so relieved. she made a new friend and she seemed to be very excited.

Amelia has really done well with all the changes. She has of course had a few Amelia moments, but all in all she has been a delight. She will start preschool this Wednesday. She says she isn't going to go to school so we will see who win the battle. lucky for me I have started taking Grandaddy to the pool Monday, Wednesday& Friday so Nana has volunteered to get Amelia to school on those days. I must say that I am Definitely getting the better end of the deal. I am not sure how long Nana will stick to the agreement after a few mornings of having to get Amelia up. Amelia really has enjoyed going to see her Great grandparents any time she wants. She knows that she needs to go give Grandaddy his morning hug. She also has spent quite a bit of time with Grandmom. They have colored and watched a few movies together. I am so grateful that we have this chance to get to spend time with them. They are such a joy.

Gretchen has decided to grow up fast. It seemed like the day after we got here she really got the walking thing figured out. she is everywhere. she now has 8 teeth. she isn't quite sure how she feels about Grandaddy yet. She will come around though.

David FINALLY finished the summer semester of school. It was crazy we are all happy it is over with. He will start the fall semester next Monday. He won't be taking as many classes so hopefully it won't be as crazy as summer was. He is going to be doing an internship at a local prosthetic clinic here in Tifton. It will count as one of his classes for school. He also got called as the first counselor in the young mens presidency yesterday.

Me I am trying to finds my place in a small town. I have been taking Grandaddy to the pool and While he swims I work out. It has been good for me. My back has been hurting a bit here lately, so hopefully the exercise will help. I love spending time with grandaddy and grandmom. They have really brought me a lot of joy and I am so grateful for the love they show me. Gradaddy said the other day when you come into this Family you are 100% a part no matter if is by marriage or birth. He sure makes you feel that way. I was called as the nursery leader in the ward yesterday. I can't say that I am thrilled by it, but I guess I should be grateful I didn't get put in cub scouts. So I will serve my time and hope it passes quickly.

Well I guess that is all for now. I will try to do better to update more often now that I know how to.

OK, so it's been awhile...

Our photographer has been kinda slack lately but here's some cute pictures of Gretchen!

First order of business, as I'm sure you all know, we are no longer moving to Griffin. We are moving to Tifton.

Gretchen has started to walk! We were down at Carla's house playing Scene It and she took 3 steps. She's been trying like CRAZY to walk. We got her a little toy that she can push around and she has been playing with it so much! The Girls have been loving summer! Swimming every chance they get, having friends over and going to friends' houses. They had a big sleepover last week sometime. They both had a couple of friends over, and stayed up late watching movies, doing manicures, and playing. The only bad thing that night was that Amelia was sick the whole time. All of her little friends were over and she was laying on the floor sleeping. It turns out that she had strep throat, and she was so sick. On a brighter note, Stella has been down in Tifton/Albany all week. Spending time with cousins and having fun. Yesterday she had skating lessons with Auntie Jennifer and Madeline and Isabella. They have both been having a blast and loving summer! On an even BRIGHTER note, David finally sold a swimming pool! We are all very excited for him.

shool's out for summer!!

A lot has been going on this week. Estella graduated from kindergarden this week. At the graduation the one of the teachers said that this is the future graduating class of 2020. It seems so far away, but it'll be here before we know it. She is extremely excited that tomorrow is the last day of school.

Amelia has enjoyed her first week of summer vacation. She's been being amelia, But we finally had a good day yesterday. This is a picture from her date with Hanga. She's trying to be like her Daddy riding a motorcycle.

We also found out that Gretchen is allergic to penicillin. She was covered from head to toe in hives. Her feet, hands, elbows, and knees were swollen. And yesterday, her face and eyes were swollen. She was so pitiful. But today she looks 10,000 times better. She is much happier, too.

Kindergarten Graduation

This

This is

Home Sweet Home

Ok, You all asked for it so here it is:


The rest of the house.