Is Anyone Out There?

I am not sure if anyone is still checking this blog. I am simply a huge disappointment to bloggers around the world! What can I say?

Emme has had the BIGGEST turn around when it comes to school. She LOVES, LOVES, LOVES it!! She has made friends and has learned so much. From her ABC's, to shapes, to little nursery songs, her knowledge and curiosity has expanded!! Her little personality has just come out- I wish I could just crawl in that mind of hers to see how it works.

I turned 30 on the 15th, and Jason surprised me with a surprise party. And yes, I was totally surprised!! It was so much fun, and I felt so lucky to have such great friends who not only celebrated with me but also put everything together so well!! Isn't it funny to think how "old" 30 used to sound? Well, here I am, in that new age bracket. I don't feel "30ish," which must count for something!!

As weird as it may sound, Halloween is one of my favorite holidays!! I just love it and look forward to it every year. Jason and I went to a costume party last weekend and had a blast! It's nothing like seeing adults dressed up and singing to "Low" and trying to dance to Soulja Boy. We are going to a Halloween party tomorrow night with Emme. It's in a nearby subdivision and will have hayrides, a movie played outside, and lots of games. We are so excited!! I cannot wait for actual trick or treating next weekend!! :)

I am including some recent pics of Emme... I am seriously not sure if anyone will even look at this... I hope my friends haven't given up on me!!

Chocolate Cheese

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First of all, I don't know what is up with my pictures, but I cannot get them to move below my post.

We had a great week and weekend. I am now on a new kick of cooking for the family. Jason has been very pleased, and it's been nice to sit down every night as a family.

Saturday Jason, Emme, and I went to Hattiesburg so I could visit my friend Jill and her new little boy, Tripp. Jill and I taught across the hall from one another for two years. She went into labor at 30 weeks and gave birth to her precious little boy Tripp. He weighed exactly 3 pounds at birth, a little over a week ago. When I saw him yesterday, he was already at 3.5 pounds. Tripp has proved to be a fighter and has made his parents proud! Please pray that Tripp will continue to grow bigger and stronger every day. I brought my camera to the hospital, but it wasn't behaving. I will try to attach a new picture of him.

After the hospital, Jason and I took Emme to Chuck E Cheese. She, of course, loved it, especially the Barney ride. She walked up and said, "Hey Barney!!" like she was expecting to see him there. I just had to include a picture of Emme looking at Chuck E Chesse with an "you come here often?" expression. The pic of Emme crying was proof of how sad she was when we had to leave. She kept calling it Chocolate Cheese, so as we were walking out the door, she was begging to go back to her Chocolate Cheese!

We had some friends over to watch football Saturday night. A great Saturday for all the DAWG fans! Speaking of fans, Emme is quite a fan of her friend, Brady Michael. She inundated him with LOTS of kisses and hugs last night. I'm going to have to watch that!

After church today I asked Emme what she wanted for lunch. After a few seconds of real consideration, she replied, "Fried chicken!" Bless her heart... she really does take after me!!

Happy Birthday to Emme!

A lot has happened since the last time I posted. Emme turned two and we celebrated by having a party last Saturday. The theme was an ice cream sundae party. All the children were able to decorate their sundaes and enjoy cake. We had everything set up outside- the food, the jumpy thing, the trampoline, everything. I don't know why I overlooked one small detail... THE HEAT. It was seriously insane. Like high 90's. It was miserable! Emme's cake was honestly melting and balloons were popping. We promptly decided to take the party inside. It worked out great and much cooler! Can I please just tell you about my child. In the middle of opening gifts, she decided she was over it. She left the room, got her pacifier and blanket, and was done. No more opening gifts. She is just so funny like that. I don't want to call her antisocial, but once she has had too much, she just decides no more. So strong-willed!!



Jason's mom and stepfather came in town for the party. We enjoyed visiting with them and had a nice dinner Friday night. I brought my camera but didn't realize I forgot the battery! Emme had a GREAT time with them.



Monday we were met with the effects of Hurricane Gustav. We were VERY lucky. Other than trees down and electricity out for awhile, we were pretty much unharmed. We were supposed to have received much worse. Jason, Emme, and I spent the day at my parents just to be safe. Our house is surrounded by tons of trees. We just got our cable, Internet, and phone back tonight. YAY! How sad is it that I was quite bummed to have missed 90210 and Gossip Girl. Perhaps I need to grow up, but it's just too much fun to watch those shows! Having no TV was actually a good thing- we had lots of quality family time. When Emme went to sleep, Jason and I watched the first two seasons of Northern Exposure. While this might seem boring, you must remember that I record Murder, She Wrote and Newhart every night.



Today was my first day back at work and Emme's first day back at school. I was a little nervous when we pulled up, but she started clapping and cheering. What a difference! I am including a slideshow of some pics of Emme's party.

What an Improvement!

We had a better week at daycare. Thursday afternoon I walked into Emme's classroom to see her chasing another little girl around the room. Score! She is finally interacting with the other kids. Friday morning Emme turned around and said, "Bye... see ya!" She didn't cry at all this week, which is such a big improvement!

We were getting into the car one morning and as I was backing out of the driveway, Emme put her hands over her head and said, "Oh no!" When I asked her what was wrong, she replied, "Where's my purse?" I'm telling you, this girl is one priss pot! She walks around in my shoes all day, pretends to put on makeup, loves my jewlery, and asks to wear dresses.

We have a very busy upcoming week. I have Bunko at my house this Tuesday, and Jason's family is coming in town Friday for Emme's birthday party. We are planning an ice cream sundae party, and the forecast says rain. YIKES! If anyone knows how to do an anti-rain dance, get moving! Can you picture 15 kids designing their own sundaes in my living room?

I cannot believe our baby girl is about to turn two. I know it is SO cliche, but kids do grow up so fast. While I already miss the days of holding her in my arms as a baby, I can say that this is an AWESOME stage. Getting to know Emme's personality is so much fun. She teaches me something new everyday. I can just see that little mind working... the things she can come up are hilarious. Jason and I are blessed with such an easygoing and sweet natured little girl. Talk about the definition of unconditional love!

We decided that when Emme turned two, we would take away her pacifier. The bottle at one year, the paci at two, hopefully the blanket next year! Wish us luck :)

Should Have Knocked on Wood!

I spoke too soon. Week 2 of daycare didn't go as great as week 1. At all. Every morning started with, "No, school. No, boys and girls. No, play. No, mommy." To make matters worse, real tears were involved when I dropped her off. Not the fake whine that will be over by the time I make it to the car. Real crocodile tears. As you moms know, your child's tears result in your tears. I have shown up a few days at work pretty upset. Not a great state of mind when you have to teach teenagers. I know, I know... just give Emme some time. It will get better. I'm trying! I have considered just quitting school and letting the student loan people arrest Jason and just live in a tent. Please pray that this whole transition thing gets easier for both mommy and daughter! Emme's teacher does say that she is warming up during the day. She is talking a lot more to her and playing more. I just want this next week to be better.

Michael, my brother, turned 26 Thursday. To celebrate, we all went to eat Friday night. Afterwards, we went to Michael and Jamie's house. They live in a converted dairy barn- it is such a cool place! They have somewhat of a mini-farm, complete with goats! As a baby, Emme loved the goats. It took her a little while to warm up to them this time. When she finally was brave enough to go up to them on her own, one goat tried to lick her hand. Of course, it scared her death! Too funny :)

PawPaw and Emme safely observing the goats


On a mission

Sweet expression


Happy Birthday Uncle "Mighty" (Emme says this instead of Mikey)

Aunt Jamie and Uncle Mikey

Boy, does this girl have attitude!!

Family picture after dinner

Emme with her great grandfather or PawPaw too!

Bath time!

Yes, pizza makes us this excited!

I had to include a post-tantrum picture. Emme pitched a fit because we had to come inside to eat dinner. If Emme could, she would just move in and live on her slide. We LOVE being outside! We HATE coming inside!

Poor Daddy!

To say the least, this weekend could be called Jason's very own comedy of errors.

Friday night started out great. A few of us teachers met up with our friend Jill, who is now working at a different school. We had a nice time eating Mexican and just having girl talk. Meanwhile, Jason had the men over for a NCAA football tournament on the PlayStation. Oh yeah, did I mention there were kids involved? I would have LOVED to be a fly on the wall to see those boys trying to juggle football with screaming toddlers!

Saturday morning was when it started getting crazy. My aunt borrowed Jason's truck to go shopping with mom. Well, she accidentally drove to my parent's house, 30 miles away, with Jason's emergency brake on. Let's just say a fire extinguisher was involved. Bless Aunt Dianne's heart! As you can imagine, Jason was freaking out! The truck will be fine. However, he is now driving my Saturn from UGA days.

So after worrying about that all day, we went to eat with the Durr's. As I am getting Emme out of the car, I notice Jason's wallet was on top of the roof. Seriously! He had put it on the car earlier in the day. As we were both commenting on how lucky he was, his face turned white. He realized that his Blackberry was on the roof as well. Jason looked for that thing forever! Just picture his friend Joseph driving on one side of the road and Jason walking on the other with a flashlight. No luck. It is the phone his firm gave him, and he receives all work related stuff on it. So now he has had his truck and Blackberry to worry about it.

This will be my first full week with students. I have one pretty rough class, but two good ones. It all evens out. Let's hope Emme has another good week at school. She has been a riot this weekend! We went over to some friends' house tonight for dinner. We were watching gymnastics on TV, so Emme kept trying to imitate all the moves and running around the house during the floor routines. She was cracking me up!! I don't think I have ever seen her so hyper. Maybe she was excited because her MeMe and PawPaw bought her some new shoes today. She is just so girly and loved getting to try on all different types of shoes. A shoe store to Emme is heaven! We were all shocked to learn that she needed a size seven shoe!! To be as petite as she is, Emme has big feet. Her new white Keds really stood out on those skinny legs :)

Sorry so much writing and no pictures. No time for a camera when you are coaching the next Olympic gold medalist! I hope everyone has a great week!!

Back in the Saddle

We had a pretty relaxing weekend. I enjoyed spending time with Jason and Emme. I did order Emme's invitations... I cannot believe that she is about to turn two. Wow! I was pretty tired this weekend because I started back to work Thursday. Neither Emme nor I is used to waking up so darn early. The summer really spoils us! It is always very hard to leave Emme, but it is especially difficult at the beginning of each year. She has done great so far at Heaven's Little Saints, her school/daycare. Valerie was unable to pick her up Thursday or Friday, and I was SHOCKED to learn that she took a nap both days on the nap mat. I guess she didn't want to be the odd man out. Her best little friend Claire also goes to HLS. The teacher told me that during Friday's nap time, she had to separate Emme and Claire because they wanted to talk and play rather than sleep. How funny is that! I think those two just might be a hand full for their teacher!

I know that some of you must be thinking that for someone who was reluctant to start a blog, I certainly post a lot. Well, I have a feeling that this is all about to end. I cannot access this website from school, so hopefully I will have time on the weekends to update the blog. Jennifer, you are right, this blog stuff IS addicting!

I am attaching a photo to show how I am able to get ready in the mornings with little bit. Emme can barely fit in the sink, but she still loves cramming herself in it while I get dressed. The other pictures are of her showing off for MeMe and Pawpaw.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

No, I am not talking about John Candy and Steve Martin. I am referring to the Exchange Club Fair. We went Monday night with my parents. I wasn't sure just how Emme would react to all the madness, but she LOVED it!! She rode the swing, Ferris wheel, carousel, wooden airplanes, and train. All she said for the next two days was, "Mommy, horsey. Pawpaw, train... CHOO CHOO!, Emme, swing, Emme, plane." While I rode on the carousel with her, Pawpaw rode with her on the train, and she rode the swing and plane all by herself. I think she dreamed about the fair Monday night. Tuesday we went shopping for a nap mat for the days that Valerie cannot pick her up from school. There were SO many cute patterns to chose from... HOWEVER we ended up with a pink one with little horses on it. While this was not even one of my choices, Emme fell in love with it. Why? The fair were still on that mind. How could I resist??

Emme on the swings

Riding the planes

Mommy got pretty dizzy on the carousel

Emme and Lucy riding the ferris wheel

Picking a duck

Worn out!

You might be a Redneck Part One: You might be a redneck if you PawPaw pulls you around via rope

You might be a Redneck Part Two: You might be a redneck if you eat a tomato straight from PawPaw's garden

Weekend With Friends

We had a good weekend. We went to dinner Friday night with the Durrs. We were actually in bed fairly early! Emme likes being a "baby" with Brady Michael. We grilled out with friends Saturday night. Emme, Claire, and Anniston had fun together playing outside. Poor Carter was outnumbered with all the girls!! Then Sunday we enjoyed a great morning at church and a fun lunch afterwards with the Durrs, Shoemakes, and Browns. Sweet Girl

Claire and Emme playing

Anniston, Claire, and Emme swinging. Emme and Claire fell down like 5 seconds after this picture was taken!

Such an Emme expression

Hamming it up with her dad!

Emme decided that she would give up walking to crawl like Brady Michael

Time to Party

This past Saturday, Emme went to her BFF Claire's birthday party. The kids had so much fun- and the adults too! Claire had the cutest cake ever! I had to include the picture of it!!

Anniston, Claire, and Emme

Claire, ,Kennedy, and Emme