Drill Sergeant

The girls went from my parents house, to Brett's parent's house, to a weekend alone with daddy, to Disneyland and the beach, and back home where Carter came to visit and then we started school...all in less than 3 weeks. To say they have been "off," would be an understatement. So I have spent the last week being a Drill Sergeant and trying to whip everyone back into shape. It hasn't been fun, but it was definitely needed. I think we're all getting back to normal. The girls have both been awesome the last 2 days. Today they were both so lovey and came and gave me so many unsolicited "I love you mommy!" hugs. Love days like that. Guess it's so true that kids really do like structure and discipline...


My sweet little Hannah has had a hard few days. She fell really hard at the restaurant on Friday night and a high chair fell on top of her. It was scary!!! That's where the forehead bruise and black eyes came from. Yesterday she fell HARD while she was running up to the ice cream store and then last night she busted it again out on the driveway. I hugged her and told her that she has had a hard time lately. Today she told me about 20 times, "Mommy, I'm just having a hard time!" Poor thing!

If you're wondering why there have been so many Hannah pics and not many Alice Anne pics lately it's because Alice Anne runs as fast as she can the second she sees me pull out the camera...and Hannah poses and tells me to take her picture all day long!!!

DISNEY!!!!

A couple of weeks ago, we took the girls to California for a fun end of summer trip! We went to Disneyland and played at the beach. I took SO many pictures, I'm going to do 2 post...one for Disney and one for the beach.

The girls were literally in heaven at Disney. They were up at 4:15a.m. ready to "go see the princesses!" That was all they talked about for weeks before we went and they were not disappointed! Brett and I had the best time just watching their faces and seeing how excited they were. I was afraid that they might be a little too young, but they were at perfect ages and they really thought that the princesses were the "real thing!"

The second we pulled up, they both asked where Ariel was (their absolute favorite princess), so we headed straight to the princesses castle. They were just about to start a "Royal Ball," and one of the princesses helpers came and took the girls hands and led them down to the "Ball." Their faces were priceless!!! They got to dance with the princesses helpers and then they were front and center as 3 of the princesses came out on stage.

Waiting for them to come out...

She was in disbelief...this is how she stood as all the princesses were coming out! This is really funny. Alice Anne was potty trained the week before our trip. She only had one accident on the whole trip and it was as soon as we walked into Disneyland. She was so excited she literally wet her pants!

Snow White came down for a dance!

And there she is...Ariel!!! Hannah gave her the biggest hug and said, "I haven't seen you in SOOOO long!!"

And of course she got a big hug from Bally!

Cinderella!!!

Sleeping Beauty!!!

Princess Belle!!!

Princess Tiana!!

And the 2 Belf Princesses

They LOVED the parade, too, and getting to see Mickey, Minnie, "Gonald Guck" (as Alice Anne says) and all of Mickey's other friends!

They got to go out and walk in the parade and they thought they were so cool!!!

That was probably one of their best days yet...and to top it all of, there was a wedding right outside our window when we got back to the hotel. They stood there and watched the whole thing!!!

A cute little story. On the airplane on the way home, Hannah said she had a great idea!! She said that for her 4th Birthday Party, she wanted to get all of her friends and grandparents and get on the airplane and go to Disneyland and the beach. She said, "Everyone would think that was the coolest party ever!" Of course!!! Just what we need...a destination 4th Birthday Party!

Last Little Piece of "Baby"

Those of you that know Hannah well, know how attached she is to her 3 pacis...VERY!!!! She only has them in her bed and can only have them when she's sleeping, but she loves those things so, so much!!! Brett and I have tried to not push her to get rid of them, but would just casually ask her every once in a while if she wanted to give them away. Every time it was mentioned, she would stress over it for days and seriously panic at the thought of not having them. The last time it was mentioned, she very firmly looked at me and told me not to ask her that again, because she was going to keep them until she was 100!!!!

Saturday when we were driving, we over heard Hannah telling Alice Anne that when she turned 4, she was going to give her swim ring away and never use it again. Brett asked her if she wanted to give her pacis away when she turned 4, too. She agreed to give 2 of them away, but said she was going to keep her favorite one forever. I asked her if she thought it would be fun to go to build-a-bear when she turned 4 and put her pacis inside a bear's tummy and sew it up. She said she wanted to do it, but she only wanted to put 2 inside. I told her that if she wanted to do it, that we had to put ALL of her pacis in there. I didn't press the issue, I just told her to think about it, and let me know if she thought it sounded like a good idea. Yesterday morning, Hannah told me she wanted to go to Build-A-Bear and sew her pacis up after school. I explained it to her and made sure that she knew what that meant...that the pacis would be inside the bears tummy and that she would be able to feel them, but she wouldn't be able to put them in her mouth anymore. She agreed, and said she would just put her bears hand in her mouth. So off we went to get our "paci bear."

Hannah proudly picked out her bear (aka: Hello Kitty) and gave her pacis one last kiss and then dropped them inside. I'd be lying if I said I didn't shed a tear or two when she told those pacis bye. Silly, I know, but to me, those pacis were the last little piece of "baby" that she had left in her.

Last night when I put her to bed, she gave Hello Kitty's tummy a kiss and told her pacis "night, night."

"Hi School...Summer's Over!!!"

This is what Hannah SCREAMED as we drove up to school this morning!! Everyday this summer, we drove by the girl's school and they would say, "Hi School...We'll see you after summer!" This morning, Hannah was so excited to say, "Hi School...Summer's Over!!"

I have never seen 2 little girls so excited to go to school!! I honestly don't think they could sleep last night, they were so excited. Hannah was up at 6:09 this morning ready to go! I was a little sad to send my babies off, but we are all ready to get back into a routine.

This is Hannah's 3rd year at Good Shepherd and Alice Anne started last January. Brett and I couldn't be happier with their school and I think the saddest thing for me today was knowing that this will be Hannah's last year there...until she goes to the big kid school :(

Alice Anne was really excited that she got to go to school in big girl panties and her teachers said she did great! They went on and on about how sweet she is!! She was so proud to show me her picture that she made and she wanted to show me all of the toys in her room, too!

Hannah is in the oldest class there and her big excitement was that she got to take a big girl lunch box. She was SO excited about her princess lunch box that she picked out!! She was also so excited that she didn't have to have a rest time or nap time. Her teachers went on and on about how friendly she was and said, "this little girl has never met a stranger!" They also said that she was sooo smart!! They said she was the only one in the class that wanted to write her own name on her papers and that when they started singing the months of the year song, she proudly announced that she already knew all the months ;)

After school, we went and got ice cream and we were there forever because the girls sat there and told me every little detail about their day! You KNOW I loved that!!!!!!!

I tried to get a picture of them in front of the school and this is what they did. I thought it was cute anyway!
My sweet little baby!
My "Big Girl Baby" as she tells me when I tell her that she's my baby. She looks so big here!!!

August in a Nutshell

We've had a crazy, busy month! We still have 2 weeks left until school starts and although I'm going to be a little sad, I think everyone around here will be glad to get into a routine.

Our biggest milestone of the month is that our house is officially diaper free!! I could not be happier, and Alice Anne is pretty proud of herself!! She picked up potty training so fast and it has been such a breeze!

The girls BOTH started dance class last week. Hannah was so excited to have Ms. Tricia again this year and she was excited that Alice Anne was going to have her old teacher Ms. Kali. They both LOVE dance and they really get into it! There's nothing cuter than a 2-year old and a 3-year old in ballet clothes!

The girls have been to Waco and Graham over the past couple of weeks. They had the best time and loved spending time with all of their grandparents! Brett and I had so much fun being kid-free, too! We've been on more dates the last couple of weeks than I think we've been on in the past 3 year combined! So Fun!!!

Our Little Baby Is 2

Our sweet little baby girl is 2!! Two years old...where in the world has the time gone. I remember every part of the day she was born like it was yesterday and I don't want to her to grow up. She is every bit a 2-year old, but deep down, she wants to still be my little baby. She is the sweetest little thing I've ever laid my eyes on!! I could have never imagined that Brett and I could love 2 little girls so much, but she has brought so much joy and love into our lives the past 2 years.

We call her "Bally" and half of the time, she refers to herself as "Bally." I love it! She is THE FUNNIEST little girl!!! She cracks herself up all the time and can make anyone laugh! She really is hilarious!! I LOVE her laugh and love her little voice! She has such a sweet little deep voice with the cutest southern accent. Brett and I can't get enough of it! If we're out in public, she tells every single person "HI" when she walks past them. When we're around new people, she tries to act shy, but it never lasts long.

She is such a cuddle bug and we love it!! She can give the best hugs that last forever and Brett and I never get tired of them. My absolute favorite time of the day is her bedtime because she still wants me to rock her every night as if she were 6 months old. We sing 3 songs, say prayers and then she gives me the biggest hug, kiss, eskimo and butterfly kisses that you've ever seen. It never gets old and I love it!!! She adores her daddy and it melts my heart every time. Nothing makes her happier than seeing daddy's truck drive up the driveway. She can't get out the door fast enough to see him!

I can usually understand what she's saying and she amazes me every day with the things that she'll say. She loves to sing...loves it! She walks around the house singing, sings to herself in the car, and will sing in her bed. Her favorite songs are "Jesus" (aka: Jesus Loves Me), "Children" (aka Jesus Loves the Little Children), "ABCDE," "Twinkle, Twinkle," "Itsy Bitsy Spider," and "On The Good Ship Lollipop" (and I think if I have to hear this song one more time I'm going to die!!)

Our girl can eat!!! She loves to eat and will eat pretty much anything and everything you give her. The only 2 things I think she won't eat is broccoli and eggplant. Whenever Hannah doesn't want to eat something, she looks at her and says, "Hannah, it SOOOOO good" and puts her hands out to show her how good it is.

She still has all her baby fat and I love it. I could squeeze and kiss her thighs all day long!

She loves to read books, LOVES "cooking" food for everyone in her little kitchen and adores her babies. She could care less about tv and there are days when I try to get her to watch a little show, but she's simply not interested. Her absolute favorite things to play with Hannah are Hide & Seek, Red Rover, Red Rover (yes, they will play this forever with just 2 people), "Goody Night" (a game that she and Hannah made up where they pretend that they're asleep and then they wake each other up), and dress-up. She's starting to really enjoy coloring and is really good at holding a crayon.

I think she might be our athletic one, but we'll see. She's going to start dance class in a couple of weeks and I know she'll love it! She LOVES to dance and it is so funny to watch!

Her favorite thing in the whole world is her big sister. Alice Anne truly worships Hannah and she's happy doing whatever it is that she's doing...as long as Hannah's doing it with her. A couple of weeks ago I dropped Hannah off at a friends house while I took Alice Anne to the doctor. Alice Anne was devastated that Hannah wasn't with us. She asked me no less than 100 times where Hannah was and you would have thought they had been apart for weeks when we picked her up. We're so lucky that big sister worships and loves Alice Anne just as much!

She might be 2, but watch her with Hannah and all of her friends, and she thinks she's 3. Ask her how old she is and she'll laugh and say "3."

I could go on and on forever. She does so many things that I love and don't ever want to forget. I love our time together and love watching her learn and grow. Brett and I are so proud to be her parents and we love her more and more every day. Happy 2nd Birthday Sweet Baby Girl. We love you more than you'll ever know!!

Right before her party...giving Hannah one of her infamous hugs!How sweet is this picture

Of course she had to stick her finger in and taste it...

The party could have been over for all she cared after she discovered the giant lollipops...
...and the watermelon...

...AND the pixi sticks...

The girl was on a sugar high and couldn't stay away from the food table!

Until we bribed her with the pinata!
I mean!!! Our birthday girl was in Candy Heaven!!!
Daddy's little girl
Daddy's other little princess stopping to give daddy a kiss
My little baby! Seriously...is that not the cutest little bikini body you've ever seen!

These 2 are T-R-O-U-B-L-E!

She thinks Carter is hilarious!

I love these 2 pictures because you can really see her personality in them

OUCH!!!

Hannah had her 1st bicycle accident last night and it was bad!! She fell going down the Grabham's driveway and landed face first. Poor thing...she has a huge busted lip and a swollen nose and upper lip. Hannah and I were both covered in blood! This is so sweet...when we were doing her responsibility chart last night and got to "No Whining" she said, "I whined a lot today when I fell off my bike." Sweet girl...that doesn't count!!!

She asked me this morning if it she could tell Stella that she didn't like her driveway :) I felt so bad for her going into camp this morning...she was really self conscious and embarrassed about it. I told her to tell people that she got a boo boo because she's so big and knows how to ride a big girl bike. She said she did just that!