Well Hello Peer Pressure!

I had a reality check from Kate last week.  One day after school she says "mommy, my friends asked me why I carry a little backpack."  Eesh.  Yes, its true, bad mommy had Kate carrying the same little backpack to school that I bought her before she started preschool 2 years ago.  Her friends all carry backpacks big enough to carry a medium sized dog to school!  In my own defense, I had bought Kate a matching Pottery Barn preschool backpack and matching lunchbox a while back.  But it seemed big to me so its been sitting in her closet for over a year.  And, naturally, now its packed away in a box somewhere!  So Kate and I discussed what kind of backpack she would like - a conversation I really didn't even need to have to know the answer!  Thankfully the kids consignment store around the corner from school had one full size backpack with princesses on just waiting for me to find it the very next day!  What luck!  I wonder how long $4.50 will make my children happy... 

Kate was SO SO proud to wear her backpack to school!  She couldn't wait for her friends to see it!  And I kinda like it too b/c her lunchbox, her (new, cool, princess) thermos, and her snack all go inside the backpack so momma is hands free!  Woot woot!  (well except the non-walker I still carry around)

























While Kate apparently had a growth spurt and outgrew all her coats her sister is still refusing to walk!  We see other babies her age who are full on running but not our little peanut.  A friend of ours just gave us their old walker.  Anna Clare quickly learned how to roll all around in it and maybe, just maybe, it will help her learn to walk!

And although she won't walk she's happy to climb all over her sister's toys.  Including the scooter! 

 

Big Day!

Today sweet Anna Clare had her 15 month check up.  I can't believe my sweet little nugget is 15 months old already!  Here are her stats:

17 lbs 13 oz (8th percentile)
30 inches (30th percentile)
18.3 in noggin (71st percentile)


So in a nutshell Anna Clare is a peanut, much like her sister, only perhaps she won't be quite as short.  And they both have what Brett likes to refer to as the "Glenn head" (BIG).

Poor baby had to get 4 shots today, including her 2nd flu shot.  I was actually a bit caught off guard by that because in North Carolina there was no 15 month checkup.  Only 12 month, then 18 month.  What really stinks is that she sees the tray of shots now and freaks out.  And lucky mommy gets to hold her down and hold her hands.  I'll have to be sure daddy joins me next time!

The fact that we have a move in less than a month saved Anna Clare from being referred to ECI (early childhood intervention) for an evaluation.  She isn't talking, other than her single
word "dog", and isn't walking yet either.  I'd say she's been on the verge of walking for over a month.  She'll even occasionally take a step or two but when she falls she doesn't bother to stand back up.  As the doctor is questioning Anna's leg strength the little smarty pants stood up and smiled this big grin at the doctor.  As if she was saying "I CAN walk, I just choose not to!"  Regardless, we'll need to get a pediatrician quickly when we get to Greenville and possibly have Anna Clare evaluated by a therapist.  Though my guess is she'll be talking more and walking by then!



Later this afternoon we had a play date at the house with some of the mom's from a group we're a part of.  I have really come to like these ladies and this group.  There are many girls in it about Kate's age that she plays well with.  So we had a princess party with crafts and cookies with pink icing! 

The big kids had a great time playing upstairs and throughout the house while the moms and the younger siblings played in the living room.  The highlight of the play date occurred when Kate decided to let Max out of the master bedroom.  From the living room we heard screaming, LOTS of screaming!  I immediately knew what had happened.  I jumped up to see a swarm of princesses running away from the back of the house.  All were screaming, some were crying.  And trotting behind them was one very happy dog.  It was the Faulkner version of the Running of the Bulls!!  Poor Max thought he was going to get some attention - he didn't mean to terrorize the kids!

Relocation - just say NO!

My momma taught me that if I don't have anything nice to say to say nothing!  So I've been silent on the blog front for over a month.  Ha!  Brett and I have made so many mistakes with this relo I can't even bring myself to rehash them.  If anything works in our favor we will be settled (or surrounded by boxes if that counts as settled) in our new house in Greenville by mid December.  But the way things have been going thus far I won't be holding my breath!


Halloween was last week and Kate, of course, loved it!  Though truthfully her daddy may have loved it more!  Anna Clare, on the other hand, decided to vomit all over her costume and her buggy halfway through the evening.  Poor girl had her first stomach virus - she and I had a fun evening of dry heaves.  Joy! 

 

I love the photos of the girls in this rocker.  This is a family piece that my parents had when Jon and I were kids.  I have several pictures of us in it when we were little!  I especially love the look on Anna's face.  "Why in the h@ll am I dressed up like a pea?!?"  Kate, of course, was a princess.






Several days before Halloween the girls and I met some friends at our church's pumpkin patch.  We picked out some little pumpkins, went on a hay ride and Kate jumped in several bounce houses.  Here are a few pictures from the day.  I'm not really sure why I have a series of shots with Kate looking just to the left of the camera.  (i'm sure she thought she was hilarious tho!)

 

 

 

 

 

Here are a few cute shots from a recent visit to the "red park" down the street.  Anna Clare has so much fun at the park now.  She climbs up the stairs and directly to the top of the highest slide.  I have to quickly grab her by the shirt to keep her from going down head first!  She has become the typical 2nd child - no fear and ready to go!  She also enjoys a good game of peek-a-boo with her sister!  Now if she'd just learn to walk...

 

 

 

 

 

2 more park pictures I wanted to share.  Love the one on the right of Anna trying so hard to climb up the slide.  Any I'd be willing to bet she'll be riding Kate's bike soon! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lastly, even though I hate having to load up the kids in the car every time the house shows, clearly someone thinks its FABULOUS! 

 

 



Nothing but TROUBLE!

My sweet little baby is transforming into a trouble-making toddler right before my eyes!  Gone are the days when she was happy to quietly sit back and watch Kate and the big kids have all the fun.  And also gone are the days when she'd play quietly in one place in the house.  Here are some shots I've taken that will serve as evidence.  (and note that all these shots are from the last 3 days!)

stopping to wave before climbing on!

almost to the top!

 

Anna Clare has conquered the stairs.  After climbing up one or two stairs over and over (because Mommy kept picking her up before she could get any higher) she is now going all the way up.  Kate thinks its a riot that Anna Clare comes to play with her in the playroom.  She happily reports "mommy, Anna Clare is in the playroom!" as if I wasn't fully aware that my 14 month old has climbed 18 stairs! 

 

Here is my trouble maker on our last trip to Target.  The seatbelt no longer keeps her from misbehaving.  She thinks it is so fun to wave to everyone she sees.  And she can see them better when she's facing the front!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
I took the girls to the mall today to kill some time on a cold and wet Saturday (without Brett).  Anna Clare wasn't okay with watching Kate and the other kids play.  She wanted to play too!  Kate enjoyed having Anna Clare follow her through the tunnels.  Anna Clare wanted to climb up the equipment too but couldn't quite do it.  I'm really gonna have my hands full when she can actually walk! (and run and climb...)  Kate had a ball with her new playmate!

 

Oh, Anna Clare also took her first ride on the Merry Go Round at the mall today.  She was all smiles but somehow those pictures didn't show up in my photos when I created this post.  Maybe later.  Hmmm wonder if the Greenville Mall has a play area or a merry go round.  Somehow I doubt it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here is a shot of my sweet angel beating her big sister with the washcloth.  Oh my.

 

 

 

 

And here's trouble practicing her walking.  Oh so close!  Her very last accomplishment before I finally put her to bed was learning how to open the cabinet in my bathroom.  Her most favorite pastime is pulling all my bath products out so I guess we'll be shopping for cabinet locks tomorrow!

 

This sweet little thing is wearing her momma out!



 

Don't Blink! Life moves faster than you think...

Okay so I love me some Kenny Chesney.  It just seemed like such an appropriate blog title for the moment.

Kate turned 5 last week and I have yet to blog about her birthday or her party!  She had a big weekend!  Saturday (last Saturday, 9/7) was her party.  Rather than hope the weather cooperates and try to have an outdoor party (yeah, tried that last year and had a bunch of screaming kids running around the house when it was too hot to have the party at the park) we had her party at Jump Zone.  They have inflatable slides and climbing structures - it is one of Kate's favorite places.  She had a great time playing with her buddies.  And of course she loved the cake and ice cream - PRINCESS cake of course!

On her birthday we brought donuts to school for her class.  I guess she had enough cake because she chose donuts over cupcakes!  Then we celebrated again that afternoon with friends at their neighborhood pool and yet again that evening with daddy.  No wonder I was exhausted by the end of Monday!  (below she is pointing to the big girl necklace that mommy and daddy gave her for her birthday)

Fast forward exactly one week and we are beginning our transition to our new life in Greenville, SC.  Brett flew out yesterday to start his new job today.  He told me earlier he has basically spent the day saying hello to all his old coworkers and have a steady flow of people into his office to catch up.  Surely he didn't expect to WORK his first day back in Greenville!  I still say they should have held a WELCOME BACK BRETT parade.  Ha!

Tomorrow he begins the house hunt.  Yep, he is house hunting without me.  Kinda scary but honestly he's harder to please than I am.  After all I bought the fixer on Farmbrook!  And after living in the fortress in Frisco it will be hard to make him happy -- good luck to our realtor in Greenville!  We are planning to put our house on the market after we find something in Greenville so I may be a single mom in Texas for a while!

And one last thing...  We are anxiously awaiting fall.  It isn't here yet!  I love that the weather guy on NBC here says it is "less hot."  Uh yeah whatever it is September 16th and it is still hot!  Ah my last Texas summer - wooohooooo!!!!!

Moving On Up!

 So this week school began!  I'll be honest, school makes me one happy mommy!  Tuesday was meet the teacher.  Kate is in TK (transitional kindergarten) with new teachers and mostly new friends since all but 2 from her class last year went to Kindergarten this year.  She is loving school so far - not only does she not cry or cling to me when I take her to school she doesn't even turn around to say goodbye!  Ha!

Not only did Kate enter her last year of preschool this week she also moved up to her booster car seat!  She's such a big girl! 

Welcome to the SOGGY SOGGY SOUTH!

Ya know, I lived in Georgia and North Carolina a long time.  Like since I was 4 years old until I was 40.  A LONG time.  I never, ever remember seeing a summer like this one.  Since the minivan passed thru Alabama almost 2 weeks ago I swear that it has rained at least one time every day.  EVERY STINKIN' DAY!! 

Today was the topper.  After it rained off and on several times I thought I'd take the girls out for a little walk in the community.  So we get halfway down the giant hill just outside our door.  That's when I hear the rain coming - I hear it!!  So I grab Kate's hand, turn the stroller around and we RUN back up the hill as fast as we can go.  Nope, didn't make it.  We were all soaked by the time we made it the short distance back to the deck of our condo.  As we stand there laughing and watching it pour (BUCKETS!) Kate notices there is now a river flowing down the street.  It was a "good mom/bad mom" moment and I caved.  Kate and I played in the river with our shoes on.  Once they were soaked we went back for more - barefoot!  I hope this is a memory Kate remembers when she is older.  I certainly will!

Yesterday, since it had rained for 3 days and we needed out of the condo, we headed to the Boone Mall for some back to school shopping.  They have a Belk and I had a gift card so Kate scored some cute new dresses.  Yay for actually having clothes that every other kid won't be wearing because they aren't from Target!  Ha!  Below are some not great pics of the cute dresses.  The denim dress has been selected for the 1st day of school!

 

Other than shopping and playing in the rain we have gotten in some playtime at the super soggy parks in the area.  Here are some cute pictures I've taken of the girls.

Note the rain boots!

Killing time indoors during the rain!

Taken on a rare hour of sunshine in Boone!


 

Life is a Highway...

So it has been a busy few weeks!  After a long week of a 12 road trip to Atlanta and a 5 hour road trip to Boone we are finally settled once again. 

Going back...  Someone turned ONE!  Wow, I still can't believe our sweet little baby is already a year old!  We had a birthday party for her at our pool with our Grins and Giggles (mom's group) friends.  We ordered pizza and I brought cupcakes.  And everyone swam because it was hot!  It was a simple party but everyone had a great time - especially the birthday girl!  The chocolate cupcake was a BIG HIT!

After a little more celebrating Glenda arrived!  She spent several days in Texas with us before we made the big departure with one very full minivan.  All in all the road trip went well.  I spent much of the trip in the backseat trying to keep the peace.  One was crying or screaming while the other was making constant demands for snacks or games to play.  Whew, already dreading the trip home!

At some point along the way Kate got ahold of my phone and learned how to take a selfee.  Currently there is a home movie of shot after shot of selfees on one giggling 4 year old!

After finally arriving in Marietta we enjoyed a much needed few hours out of the house for some adult time (yay for the next door neighbor that babysits!).  That might have been the best beer I EVER had!  We moved on to Jon's house the following day for some quality time with the cousins and Kate's beloved Aunt Joy and Uncle Jon.  We spent some time at their pool, watched movies in their media room and even managed to see Joy's parents and her brother and his family.  It was a very busy and fun couple of days.  It was so fun seeing Kate with her cousins and Aunt and Uncle.  She just loves them!

After spending the weekend with Jon, Joy and the boys (do I have to quit referring to my now collage-student-nephew Jordan as one of the "boys"???) we moved further north in the Atlanta area to see our ex-neighbors.  Ken and Kristi were our neighbors in Frisco - and some of our closest friends there.  They relocated to the Atlanta area several months ago so we took advantage of the opportunity to see them!  Kate and Emmie were big buddies in Texas and picked right up where they left off!  Even Anna Clare made a new friend!  Though she must learn to stop poking other babies in the eye...  It was so fun spending a few days visiting parks and Chick-fil-a with them.  If only our besties in Texas didn't keep moving away!  Sigh. 

After being on the road for almost a week and sleeping in 4 different locations we finally got to Boone on Wednesday.  We were all worn out and ready to settle in and stay put for a while!  So far we are staying pretty close to home and enjoying the peace and quiet - Anna Clare is catching up on her naps!

These are a couple more road trip pictures.  This one is at our favorite rest stop along I-85 North just after crossing into South Carolina.  Molly had run around this rest stop many times in her day.  It was Kate's turn!

 

 

 

And a shot of Kate at the North Carolina Welcome Rest Area.  :-)



 



 

 

The view from our back deck made the whole trip worth it!  

 

 

 

Anna Clare was checking the place out!  I think she likes it here.  Only she is probably wondering where the step are and why there are no dogs around!

 

 

Our first park visit - to Valle Crucis Neighborhood Park.  Kate enjoyed some bike riding, reuniting with her bear friends and some play time too!  Even Anna Clare got in some swing time!