Mary Catherine laughing

Mary Cat was in the swing and Ella was playing with her. Ella played with her feet, she pushed her in the swing...no matter what Ella did, Mary Cat just laughed and laughed at her. Even though I have heard her start to laugh from her belly, this is the first time I have heard her really laugh this hard. It was music to my ears!! Plus, Ella really got a kick out of it since she was the one Mary Cat was laughing at!

Uncle Jody visits

Jody is at Ft. Jackson in Columbia, SC right now for a class. He came over for the weekend. It rained all day Saturday, so we pretty much just sat around and watched football all day. The girls liked playing with him, too. It was wonderful having him over!

Ella singing The Backyardigans

For Ella's birthday, mom gave her a card that sings the first part of the Backyardigan's song. Ella LOVES it and will sing to us quite often.

My first day back to work

My first day back to work from maternity leave was September 24. It was so hard to go back to work after having 16 weeks off! Plus, we had been gone for the 2 weeks prior and we moved to Greenville on Sept 22. Carol came up to help me with the girls and the move. If it weren't for her, I don't think I would have made it to work on the 24th!!

I took the girls to school on Wed for a couple of hours so that we could unpack. The girls did really well - despite the fact that it was Mary Cat's first experience with school and it was a brand new school for Ella.

Thursday was their first full-day at school. Poor Mary Cat only slept for 20 minutes the whole day. So, she was a tired little girl that night. Ella seems to be enjoying her class, her new friends, and her new teachers. I still have the mommy guilt (most days), but so far, all is well. Day-care is day-care though - Friday/Saturday, they both started getting colds!!

On the upside though, Mary Cat has been sleeping thru the night - I mean, ALL NIGHT! She goes to bed between 7 and 7:30 PM and we have to wake her up at 7 AM. She has done that every night since I started work...hopefully, she will keep it up! I guess it is a trade-off though (part of the mommy-guilt coming in). It does stink that we don't have much time with her once we get off of work before she is ready for bed. She needs her sleep, I know that. I remember going thru the same thing when Ella started sleeping from 7PM to 7AM.

Southern Miss vs Virginia

Virginia came to The Rock on Sept 19. It was an awesome game!! We won 37-34 with a very intense 4th quarter. Didn't think we were going to pull it out, but the Eagles prevailed! We had an exciting day!!

Panama City, Fl beach trip

After Ella's birthday party, we left for Florida. It was midnight when we got there, but it is never too late to create a wonderful memory. Picture this in your mind...Ella had on her new Dora pajamas, her favorite boots and her wings she had gotten for her birthday. A sweet and perfect image that I will cherish for a lifetime.

We spent the week with Mimi, PawPaw Ace, Katie, John David and Pearce. It rained a lot, but we still made the most of the week. It was nice to relax and just enjoy all being together.

On Monday, it rained and rained and rained. No pool and no beach that day. On Tuesday. Clint and Ella went to the pool for a little while. The water was really cold, but that didn't seem to bother Ella any!

That night, we left the girls with Mimi and PawPaw and we went out to dinner at Capt. Andrew's. It was a great dinner, despite the loud lady that was sitting next to us.
On Wednesday, we had another birthday party for Ella. Mimi made some cupcakes and Ella got to wear her party hat again.

After playing on the beach, Clint and Mary Catherine decided to take a nap together.

We enjoyed watching Pearce and Mary Catherine together. They seemed to delight in looking at each other. Maybe they are already communicating!!

We took Mary Catherine and Ella out on Wednesday night. We drove down the beach to Rosemary beach and to Seacrest beach. On our way, Ella said the sweetest thing...

"Look Mommy, the angels need to put the clouds back together because they are breaking. I can put the puzzle back together...cuz I have wings."

After we left there, we went to Pier Park (a newly developed outdoor mall). Ella and Clint rode a choo-choo train. After that, we walked around the shops, danced to music and ate some chocolate.

On Thursday, it was raining in the morning, but that wasn't going to stop Clint and Ella from getting into the ocean. They were the only ones out there. (This picture is small...the black spec in the ocean is Clint and Ella).
But, then the sun came out and we got to spend the better part of the day out there.

Thursday night after the kids went to bed, Clint, Katie, John David and I went out "on the town." We went to an outdoor arcade. We played games - like skeeball and basketball. We even rode go-carts. It was a lot of fun. Overall, we had a wonderful week. I think that Mimi and PawPaw enjoyed spending time with their grandkids, too.

Just like mom

The other day, as we were hanging out with friends, there were times where when I said something, it reminded me of my mom. I thought to myself, "I sound just like my mom!" At first, I was taken back...I didn't know what to think. Well, the more I pondered, the more I realized that it was actually a good thing. My mom is one of the most Godly women I know. Her walk with the Lord has gotten noticeably stronger in the past several years. She has always been a "Pollyanna" of situations - always finding the good in a bad situation. She still sees the brighter side of things, but now, I don't see her as a "Pollyanna" anymore; instead I see her giving the glory and praise to the Lord for which He deserves. It's amazing how so much stays the same, yet so much has changed once our eyes are opened. I will continue to pray that as the days go on, my walk with the Lord will continue to strengthen and my desire to know Him will continue to grow...in essence, to be more like my mom.

One day when we were at the beach, Ella and I were in the bedroom together. She was mimicking every single move I made. Even though she does this a lot, at that moment, I just stood there and really realized...everything that I do or say around her influences her. She just wants "to be like mom."

I pray that I will be the Godly mom. I pray for their salvation. I pray that Clint and I will give them not only their basic needs and happy moments, but I also pray that we will be parents that will teach our children to love the Lord, to know Him and to have a relationship with Him. Please join me in praying for us!

Happy 3rd birthday Ella

Wow - Ella turned 3 on September 13! We had a wonderful and eventful day. After she woke up, we went ahead and opened presents from me and Clint and Nana.

That afternoon, we had (the first part) of her party at Mason Park in Laurel. The sun was out, but the forecast was rain. We thought we would be able to get thru the party without any rain, but...we didn't. The kids did get to play for awhile though.
We got to have cake and ice cream.

And then...crack...boom...bam...the thundering started. Not long after the rain came and boy did it!! I remember running out to the car with Ella in my arms and while I tried to buckle her in her seat, I was getting soak-and-wet and all I could do was laugh. She and I just laughed and laughed.

We all headed back to Nana's house. We sat around, enjoyed each other's company and Ella opened her gifts. All and all, it was a day to remember.

My feet!

Mary Catherine has discovered her feet...and boy does she love them!!!

Slip and Slide

On our way to Mississippi, the girls and I stopped in Grayson, GA to stay with the Messer's. We had a great time. I about didn't recognize the girls though - they have grown so much!! They were all non-stop playing all day. Rebecca took Mary Catherine under her wing and helped tend to her. Emilee showed us her gymnastics routine. Ella is still trying to mimic her - trying to do cartwheels and perfecting her roll. Keeghan and Ella played together a lot, too. It was wonderful to hang out with Heidi and Chris and to catch up with them. Here are some pics of the girls on the slip-and-slide that afternoon.

3 months already!!!

Mary Catherine turned 3 months old on August 4. She is just such a sweet baby. She has her moments, just like many of us do, but she is just such a delight. I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that she started cooing. Well, she did that for a couple of days and then she kind of stopped. She has picked it back up and now it is just an all out giggle. She can make some of the funniest noises. As we all know, Ella "sings" when she eats - well, Mary Catherine sometimes "sings" when she sleeps. Too funny.

She also rolled over today - from her tummy to her back - with no help from me!! For the past week, she would do it if I positioned her just right. But today, she was just hanging out on her tummy, talking to me, smiling, and then she moved her arm just the right way and PLOP she went on her back. I think she was a wee-bit shocked!
(couldn't get the red-eye out of the picture for some reason. I am going to try to work on it and if I can get it fixed, will re-load the picture...still a cute picture though!)
We might have a thumb sucker! She definitely loves her hands and I have seen her get her thumb in her mouth before. Today, Ella and I were cleaning her room and I heard Mary Catherine cry. I knew it was about time for her to get up from her nap, so I figured she was just letting me know that she was awake and was ready for us to come and get her. By the time I got into her room, she had soothed herself back to sleep by sucking her thumb. So, will it be the thumb or the sah-sah that will prevail?