Breakfast in Bed for Bree's Birthday

Today, the girls and I went to Bree's Breakfast in Bed Birthday. Rachel threw the cutest 2nd birthday party! The girls had so much fun! They love always have so much fun playing with Claire and Bree (and Owen too!).

We hung around for a while after the party because we had a house showing! While we were at Bree's party, our realtor called and we had another showing this afternoon. Hopefully we hear some good news back on one of the showings!

Is that...JUSTIN BIEBER!?

Hannah has the uncanny ability to learn words to songs after hearing them once or twice. (If she doesn't she makes up her own).

Right now, her favorite song to walk around and sing is Justin Bieber's "Baby Baby". There is a part where they rap in the middle of a verse. She can't keep up with those words, so she just improvises with some "b-b-b-b-b-bam"s here and there.

Here is a sampling of her musical talents:

Look out world, Hannah's gonna rock you out!

Cry Baby Jane

I don't consider myself one of those "emotional" mommies. By emotional, I mean, I'm not a "Cry Baby Jane". I didn't cry when my girls were born (Travis did enough of that for both of us!). I don't cry when they get hurt. I don't cry when they are spending time with grandparents and I miss them.

Today was Emma's first day of 2nd grade. Today was the third "first day of school" that she has had. Today was the third time I've walked her into Walker Elementary School and taken her to her new class. Today was the third time I teared up walking out of her building.

In Kindergarten, I cried for her. She was scared and unsure. I was worried she would go through her whole day with the same fears she had when I walked out of the classroom. I put my sunglasses on before I even left the building to try to disguise the huge tears pouring from my eyes.

In First Grade, I cried for her. She was excited, but a little nervous about the thought of "real" work and no naps. She was sure she could handle it, but the nerves were getting the best of her. I made it out of the building, but lost it in the car. Her nerves were my nerves.

Today, Emma wasn't nervous. She was confident and ready. Emma was excited. Today, I walked her to her class and told her bye. Emma hugged me half-heartedly and walked off with her friends. As I was walking out, my eyes filled with tears. This time, I cried, not for her, but for me.

I walked past the First Grade hall and saw the semi-confident children hugging their mommies and daddies tightly. I couldn't believe that had been us an entire year ago.

I walked past the Kindergarten hall and saw the wide-eyed boys and girls holding hands with their mommies and looking up at them. Those eyes pleading with them not to leave just yet. Two years has past since I had to leave Emma sitting at her desk, tears flowing from her eyes staining the paper she was writing her name on.

So, as I walked out of school today. I cried for "yesterday", the day I took Emma to Kindergarten. But, I also cried for "tomorrow", because "tomorrow" I will take Hannah, then Catherine. Time is passing so quickly and I just want to stop it. I want the girls to stay just how they are right now.

Emma had a great first day of school, as I knew she would. So...here we go...2nd grade has officially begun!

Firsts

Yesterday, I took the day off to do some last minute things to get ready for school to start on Wednesday. (Yes. I waited until the LAST minute to go buy school supplies and just found the last package of Elmer's glue sticks in NWA at lunch!)

I took all of the girls to get haircuts. Emma is growing her hair out for Beautiful Lengths (click here to find out more about that program). I am so proud of her for doing this as it was all her idea. So, we just trimmed a few of the dead ends off to keep it healthy and growing.

Hannah was in DESPERATE need of a hair cut. Her hair is still pretty thin and looked so messy. So, she got a couple of inches cut off hers. It looks so pretty!

Catherine had the baby mullet going on. It was in serious need of some TLC. This was her first hair cut, but she LOVED IT! She still needs her front to catch up with the back, but it looks lots better.

Later that afternoon, the girls had a dentist appointment. Emma and Hannah are pros at the whole teeth cleaning thing. But, this was Catherine's first trip.

Emma and Hannah did great with their cleaning and x-rays. I am proud to report that there were NO cavities in their pearly whites. (Emma will be seeing an orthodontist after she looses two more teeth. Those puppies are BIG!)

Catherine was a little hesitant of opening her mouth. However, the hygenist and I coaxed her into getting her teeth brushed. But, as soon as that was done, Catherine snapped her mouth shut and wouldn't let them rinse or floss her teeth. When the denstist came over, she let him see the fronts of her teeth, but REFUSED to open. Finally, he pryed her mouth open long enough to make sure her teeth were in good shape. Everything looked great! (However, we need to work on our dental etiquete.)

The girls and I did a little shopping before heading home. I had such a fun day with them. And...keeping it real...there were moments when I realized I do not have the patience to be a SAHM.

(Sorry for the picture quality. I took all of these with my phone. I PROMISE I'm going to start carrying my camera again!)

Birthdays Galore

August is SUCH a busy birthday month around here! Cristin celebrated her THIRTIETH birthday this weekend (and from what I hear did it in style in NYC! Can't wait to see those pics.) Happy birthday, Cristin!

Daddy Ben celebrated his birthday this month (not sure I can count that high, so we will just call it 50). Happy Birthday, Daddy Ben!

This weekend, we had two parties to go to. Emma's friend, Maddux, turned 8 and the sweetest blond-haired, blue eyed boy we know, Owen, turned 5.

First up was Maddux's party. We try to let the girls go to their own parties with their friends. So, Travis and the little girls went to hang out at his Mom's. I took Emma to Maddux's party at Fun City. Emma was so excited to see most of her friends again before school starts back this week. While she was partying with her friends, I ran home to put some finishing touches on the house. We had a showing this weekend. (Praying that they fell in love and will make an offer!)

Saturday evening, we went to Owen's party at Fast Lanes. He was so excited that it was his birthday and the party was great! The kids got to bowl, have pizza and cake, and play games. All of the kids and dads went into a little black light room with air cannons on each side. They split up and had a blast shooting at each other, while the moms (and babies) stayed outside watching. After they played two games, the dads came out sweating like crazy! Maybe they took it a little too serious.

After Owen's party, we went back to the Brown's to hang out. Nothing like good friends, fried chicken and good wine to make the perfect night. I haven't laughed that hard in months! It was such a great ending on a fun, busy day!

MIA

What a wild week we had last week! I don't have a lot of pictures, but I want to update everyone with what has been going on.

Travis's step dad was abruptly admitted to the hospital and diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. That was on a Thursday. Only 8 days later, he passed away. We were all saddened and shocked by how quickly he was taken from us and cling to the knowledge that we will see him again some day.

Leon passed away on Sunday night. Monday, I took the girls to school and went to him mom's with the rest of the family to help where I could. After spending most of the day over there, Travis and I picked up the girls and explained to them what had happened. Unfortunately, this is the second grandfather they have had pass away from cancer, so they understand it all too well.

Tuesday, I worked and the girls went to school. I arranged with my mom and dad for the girls to come stay with them for the visitation and funeral. Travis and I decided that they were just too young to deal with all of that. We need to shield them and protect that childhood innocence for as long as possible.

Wednesday, we loaded up and met my parents in Y-city for the swapping of the children. That night was the visitation at the funeral home. Lots of people showed up in support of Lisa, Leon and the family. Lewis and Robbie drove all the way from Conway just for the visitation. Lewis had to work at 5am, so they drove back that night.

Thursday was the funeral. It was a nice graveside service (soooo hot, though). Afterwards, our old church family in DeQueen provided lunch for everyone. Despite such a horribly sad situation, it was nice to see people come together and support each other during times like these.

During our quick trip to DeQueen, we also got to visit with Travis's Mimi and his step mom. It was so good to see them, as we don't get to see them as often as we should. While we were there, they gave us some old pictures of Travis when he was a little baby. They are hilarious. (There's a whole post coming on those!)

Thursday evening, we met my mom in Y-city and picked up Catherine. She kept the big girls for "Camp Honey" until Sunday. They swam, skied, played and got spoiled. I would say Camp Honey 2011 was a success!

Friday, I worked from home and ran some errands. While the big girls were gone, we started the great room shuffle (moving Catherine out of a crib and into a room with Hannah and Emma into her new room). All the moving, re-decorating and organizing wore us out.

Saturday, I finished up Emma's room. Once I got everything in place, I still had this HUGE pile (this picture does not do it justice) of stuff that had no home. Travis helped me bag up 3 1/2 trash bags of toys that will be going to the Children's Shelter.  (Emma and Hannah need to be glad they weren't home...because some of the stuff I found under that bed was RIDICULOUS!

By Sunday morning, I had our whole house cleaned out and re-organized. Boy did it feel good! My parents were nice enough to drive the girls all the way home. They had Emma's bed in their storage building, so they brought that and mom helped me get her room finished up. (I'll do a post on all the house changes/updates soon!). Thanks so much for helping us! Ya'll are the best!

During this craziness (if anyone is still reading!), we got our old dog Jack back. Catherine LOVES him and is always taking him pillows while he sleeps. Poor Jack!

Now that I have everyone up to date on our lives again, I will start posting regularly. So...stay tuned!