The Causey Family

Happy Birthday Emma Catherine

2012-01-27T20:55:00.000-06:00

Today Emma Catherine is 6. Is this really happening? Do I really have a 6 year old? Why yes, I do! It is amazing how much she has matured this year and also to see the confidence she has gained. She started off kindergarten a little apprehensive and unsure about her abilities and now she is blossoming.

She has been excited for her birthday this whole month. She was especially looking forward to this week in general because it was her "Marvelous Me" week at school. The week started with Ryan reading a book to the class and eating lunch with her. She choose Wibble Wobble, which is about loosing teeth.

On Tuesday she took a poster she made with pictures of our family.

On Wednesday they did 100th Day of School activites all day we didn't do anything extra.

On Thursday Bailey and I went to school to do a craft with the class.

On Friday I ate lunch with her and she shared a treat with the class. They really don't like treats like cupcakes or cookies at their school so she picked fruit snacks to take to school (as recommended by her teacher).

Friday night we celebrated her birthday by going to Build A Bear, eating at CiCi's Pizza, and having cake and ice cream at home. She had trouble deciding on a dessert and at one point she was set on making chocolate cupcakes but at the last minute she picked out a chocolate publix cake.

Happy birthday to our sweet Emma Catherine!

Christmas

2012-01-14T21:33:00.000-06:00

On Christmas Eve we headed to my grandpa's house which is where we spend Christmas day. We all wore the same Christmas shirts that we wore last year even though they were long sleeved and it felt like it was at least 85 degrees outside. I think we got more compliments this year then last year and people kept coming up to us saying, "I believe."

We went to lunch at Olive Garden like we always do and then we went to look around the mall. We then got ready and went to church.

Last year I took Emma Catherine to the Dollar Tree to buy presents for everyone in the family. We decided that she could give out her presents on Christmas Eve so that the presents wouldn't get lost in the shuffle of Christmas day. This year I took both girls to the Dollar Tree to shop for our family and we again, let them give out their presents on Christmas eve. We all have to hold in our laughter because the some presents they picked out were pretty funny. When I took the girls shopping, they were each VERY certain about what they were picking out. They were so excited to get each person their gift.

We ate our Christmas eve traditional dinner, Mexican, and we read the girls a Christmas book about the meaning of Christmas and then it was time for them to get to bed.

On Christmas morning we all woke up before the girls to make sure everything was ready. Just as we were about to open a few presents of ours before the girls woke up, we heard them talking in their room. We went in their room and took a good morning picture...hilarious.

They then ran to see if Santa came. They checked out the cookies they left out and their stockings.

Next, the checked out their presents from Santa, and then we all started opening presents.

We had a fun morning and Bailey kept us entertained with lots of dancing. We listened to the Jersey Boys CD most of the morning, with a little bit of Christmas music mixed in.

Happy birthday, Ryan

2012-01-07T21:29:00.000-06:00

Not to be forgotten in the busyness of December is Ryan's birthday. The girls and I try make Ryan's birthday special each year and set aside a day to celebrate him. Unfortunately it doesn't always happen on his exact birthday because like this year, we were in Prattville on the actual day. He chose to go to Buffalo Wild Wings and then we came home for cake.

Christmas with the Causeys

2012-01-07T21:09:00.000-06:00

We always celebrate Christmas with Ryan's side of the family the weekend before Christmas. It is a fun time for the cousins to be together and thankfully the weather was pretty mild and they could do a lot of playing outside. My sister in laws and I mostly stayed inside and visited with each other so I'm not sure all the things the kids did outside but I do know there was a lot of rock collecting going on.

Christmas Performances

2012-01-07T20:51:00.000-06:00

This year Bailey had a Christmas performance at school and both of them had a Christmas performance at church. Both of Bailey's performances happened to fall on the same day, which turned out to not be a good thing. Her first performance was at school and I was so proud of her. She had to memorize a verse and say it by herself into a microphone. I wasn't sure if she would say it when the time came but she did!

The other performance was that night at church. Bailey sang some songs with the 3 year olds, then they sang with Emma Catherine's class and then Emma Catherine's class sang by themselves. Prior to their performance they practiced all their songs and they did great.

Then the problems began. Bailey's class went on the stage to sing and Bailey wouldn't stand on the right step with her class.

Eventually she just sat down and then she turned around with her back to the audience for a couple of songs. I guess she was over performing for the day.

Then it was time for Emma Catherine's class to be on the stage to sing with the 3 year olds. Bailey started yelling I want to stand by Emma Catherine until they finally moved Emma Catherine by her. If you notice, they are standing in different places in the practice photo and the one below.

Emma Catherine then got her turn and she did great. She loves to sing and she always enjoys going to choir.

Zoo Light Safari

2011-12-20T22:18:00.000-06:00

I have heard mixed reviews on the Birmingham Zoo's annual Zoo Light Safari, but I knew that I wanted to take the girls this year because you have free admission if you are a zoo member. I knew it would be crowded so we tried to get there when it opened but we didn't account for the amount of Birmingham area traffic, so we were a little late for rope drop (a little disney joke). It was chick fil a night so their were cows everywhere. They were also giving out lots of coupons and little toys.

Bailey was scared at first of the cows and wouldn't go near the first one we saw. She got a little more brave with her sister between she and the cow. She also acted scared to see Santa. She wouldn't sit on his lap but at least she would stand near him.

It was definitely a very cold night and the train ride line was rather long but overall, we had a good time seeing the lights and barn animals and we will go back next year.

We never miss an Auburn photo op!

Ballet Christmas Parties

2011-12-20T22:01:00.000-06:00

Both girls had Christmas parties at ballet last week. They allowed the parents to come in the room to watch them warm up and the girls showed us some dances they have been learning. After that they had a small party with treats.

Merry Christmas (christmas card outtakes)

2011-12-20T21:52:00.000-06:00

Usually we try to take our own Christmas card picture each year by using the self timer. This always ends up giving us a good laugh, so I thought I would share some outtakes.

Believe it or not I could have added many more, but this is the one we chose.

New York

2011-12-19T22:14:00.000-06:00

Every year the first week in December my generous grandpa takes us to New York. Even though we go every year, it never gets old to me. I love seeing the sights, being with family, going to plays, shopping and laughing a ton. To be quite honest, it is also nice to not be a mom for a few days to and to be able to not be on a schedule. Once again, Ryan was awesome and watched the girls so I could go.

Thanksgiving

2011-12-19T21:52:00.000-06:00

We always spend Thanksgiving in Prattville with Ryan's family. The girls love playing on their property and being outside while we are there. They ride the tractor, 4-wheelers, pick vegtables in the garden, swing, and find rocks.

More Family in Town

2011-12-10T21:58:00.000-06:00

The weekend after my mom came, my aunt and grandpa came to visit us. My aunt has been to visit us in Birmingham before, but this was the first time my grandpa has gotten to come. They helped me do errands, bake for an event at church, shop for a few things for our house, visit Emma Catherine's school, and decorate our porch for fall. It was a fun trip with lots of laughs.

My Mom's Visit

2011-12-10T21:50:00.000-06:00

In early November my mom came to visit for a few days. Unfortunately it was a quick trip, but we made the most of it. We took the girls to see Disney on Ice and my mom and I spent all day Saturday at the Christmas Village craft and gift show.

Halloween Night

2011-12-06T10:30:00.000-06:00

For Halloween this year we went trick or treating with our neighbors again. There is a section in our neighborhood that is great for trick or treating and our neighbor's parents live in that section. We went around our street first and then headed to Lake Point. We walked around Lake Point until we thought the girls had had enough and then Lark's mom fixed us a yummy dinner! It is a fun tradition we have started and I hope we continue it.

Happy Birthday, Dale

2011-12-06T10:19:00.000-06:00

Over Halloween weekend, we went to Daphne to celebrate Ryan's brother, Dale's 40th birthday. Ryan's oldest brother and his family and also his parents were to celebrate also. We also went to the fall festival at Amy and Dale's church and they had a "funeral" for Dale to say goodbye to his youth. The weekend went by quickly but it was fun to be with Ryan's family.

Valleydale Fall Festival

2011-11-16T20:30:00.000-06:00

The weekend before Halloween we went our church's fall festival. It is an annual event and we always have a great time. Ryan and I also took turns working the game that our life connection class was in charge of. The girls chose their own costumes. Bailey was Tiana from Princess and the Frog, and Emma Catherine was Jessie from Toy Story.

Back to Auburn

2011-11-01T21:25:00.000-05:00

While my parents were in town we went to Auburn again for the Auburn vs. Florida game. That's always a fun game for us since we are from Florida. We spent the whole day in Auburn and the girls were really great sports and did great at the game even though it was late. I think they were just glad it wasn't hot like the Mississippi State game.

It was a fun day and it was capped off with an Auburn win. By the time we walked back to our car, the girls were exhausted. Bailey was asleep before we even got out of the parking lot and Emma Catherine wasn't too far behind. Because Ryan and I love Auburn so much, it is wonderful to make all these memories with our family.

Riverchase Fall Festival

2011-11-01T20:52:00.000-05:00

Every year Emma Catherine's school has a fall festival as a fundraiser. This year my parents were in town so they got to come too. The girls had fun riding the rides and playing on the inflatables.

Carly and Kurt's Wedding

2011-10-17T21:10:00.000-05:00

A couple weekend ago, we got to celebrate Carly and Kurt's wedding. I think one reason I have been putting off writing a blog about it is because I wasn't sure I could put it all into words. It was a fabulous wedding weekend and there were so many memories that I will always treasure. The girls absolutely loved being flower girls and getting their hair done and dressing up. I still can't get over how gorgeous Carly looked and how beautiful the wedding site/venue looked.

The events started with a bridal luncheon on Friday morning. It was filled with lots of friends and family from Florida.

We then headed to get our nails done and then did a quick change to get ready for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.

Carly has always meant the world to me and it meant so much that she asked the girls to be flower girls. Of course I cried when I tried to tell her how much I love her.

Saturday morning was a fun time of watching Carly and the girls get ready, and to see all the wedding preparations take shape. They took pictures before the wedding and the girls posed and posed. I had warned them that flower girls have to take lots of pictures and they both did great.

The reception was the most fun I have had in a really long. The band played cover songs that everyone knew and we danced the night away. The girls enjoyed dancing and then they just got worn out. My parents were such a help the whole weekend. Both nights, they took the girls back to the hotel and put them into bed so Ryan and I could stay. I don't know what I would have done without them.

Carly and Kurt Nelson, we love you so much and were honored to be apart of your wedding day! We look forward to seeing God bless your marriage.

A Birthday and a Shower

2011-09-23T16:51:00.000-05:00

I spent last weekend in Nashville for a two-fold purpose. I first got to celebrate my wonderful and beautiful sister's birthday on Friday night and on Saturday I got to celebrate and shower Carly with some goodies for her honeymoon. It was a great weekend of friends and family, celebrating, laughing, and hanging out. I stayed up later on both nights than I can remember doing anytime in recent history and I even ate nachos at some point close to midnight on Saturday. I felt like I was back and college and I loved every second.

I also can't say enough how thankful I am to the love of my life for his encouragement of me to take part in these girls trips. The way it fell, I have had 2 girls trips in the last 3 weeks, and he hasn't even batted an eye. I felt bad about trips so close together and he would hear nothing of it. I am thankful that I don't have to worry about the girls while I'm gone because I know they are having fun with their daddy.

Game Day in Auburn

2011-09-15T22:02:00.001-05:00

I got to go back to Auburn last weekend for the game, but this time Ryan, the girls, and Lauren got to come too. We went down Friday night and stayed in a hotel in Auburn, so we wouldn't have to wake up so early considering is was an 11:20 start time. We shouldn't have worried too much though because Bailey was up at 6:00. We ate breakfast at the hotel and then went downtown to see the sights and take some pictures.

Our hotel had decorated the lobby with toilet paper rolls wrapped up with Auburn quotes on them. It was so cute and this was our quote which pretty much sums up most people's experience at Auburn (except most of us didn't play football there.)

Going back to Samford Hall is always special to us since that is where Ryan and I got engaged. It was fun to tell the girls the story.

Ryan modeled one of Gene Chizik's favorite looks, the pleather jacket with AU on it, at Tiger Rags.

We made it to our seats, which were high the corner of the lower level, and we were right under where they release, Spirit, our Eagle that soars around the field in the pregame celebration. You may have heard that Spirit had a little bit of a rough flight during this game. His flight was unusually long, which included him hitting the glass of the box seats and flying very low over some fans' heads. The girls, of course, loved the long flight. (The second picture is right before Spirit hit the glass.)

The pregame was definitely the girls favorite part with the band, the Eagle, and the cheering.

The game was very hot and towards half time, the girls got very whiny and a little grumpy about the heat, so we spent most of the 3rd quarter under the stadium where there was a great breeze and some fans blowing. Ryan had a radio so we listened to the game. Once the 4th quarter started we headed back to our seats for the rest of the game, and thankfully Auburn pulled out the win.

We then headed to Toomer's Corner to throw a little toilet paper on our dying trees. The trees look so pitiful and I think they will definitely die at some point so we wanted to let the girls play at Toomer's while you still can.

It was a great day, and overall, the girls had fun, but Emma Catherine did say that she didn't want to go to anymore hot games in the daytime.

Delta Den Reunion

2011-09-12T20:36:00.000-05:00

Over Labor Day weekend I got together with my best friends from college at Jenn's lake house. We try to get together once a year but it has been over year since we have all be together and even then it was only for a day. You may remember my post from a couple of years back about why we call ourselves the Delta Den. This year our reunion also fell on a football weekend so we went to the Auburn football game that we thought would be an easy win for Auburn. Boy were we surprised when Auburn had to come back with 3 minutes left to win the game. It was so great to have the whole Delta Den together for the game! Just like old times.

On Sunday we spent a lazy day at the lake. We did some talking, snacking, and playing games and we never even went outside due to the off and on rain. It was perfect in my opinion and just what we all needed. I've been through so much with these girls and I love them so much.

Bailey's 1st Day of School

2011-09-07T22:39:00.000-05:00

Today was Bailey's first day of preschool. She was so excited that it was finally her turn after waiting for just over 3 weeks. She is also glad that her teacher is Ms. Kristi since we know her from church and she is very comfortable with her. Our day started a little crazy since we didn't have power, but thankfully I was able to get her to school on time. We are looking forward to a great year.

Ballet and Tap

2011-08-31T21:11:00.000-05:00

This week the girls started ballet and tap classes at a local dance studio. Bailey has been talking about ballet for a year and she was so excited to start. She started screaming and jumping up and down when I woke her up from her nap and told her it was time to go. They were both so cute in their classes. Emma Catherine was excited about getting to take tap because in Chattanooga she just took ballet.

Our next door neighbor, Lilly, is in Bailey's class.

Camping

2011-08-30T21:29:00.000-05:00

This past weekend we went on our first family camp-out. Before you think how brave we are, you should know that the camp out was in our neighborhood on a driving range for only 1 night. Just think of it as Intro to Camping 101. We got to the driving range just before dinner time and set up the tent.

Then the girls threw off their shoes and ran up and down the driving range with all the other kids. They also collected many, many handfuls of golf balls. (As a side note, Bailey kept calling them basketballs, even though we corrected her every time.)

Then there was a cookout, popcorn, and a movie.

After the movie was over, they started another movie and they finally turned it off at 11:00 p.m. So it was a late night for the girls, but they did sleep all night in the tent. The bad part came in the morning when the people who do the maintenance on the golf course started mowing, blowing, and edging at 6:00 a.m. Boy, that was an early morning, so all the tents around the range came down very quickly. We were back home before 7:00 and had plenty of time to get ready for church. After church brought VERY good naps for all of us.

Overall, it was a fun family night, but I can see how difficult it would be to really camp. We have a tent now, though, so I think we will definitely try again, and next time, maybe we'll try air mattresses.

Kindergarten

2011-08-15T22:24:00.000-05:00

Emma Catherine had her first day of kindergarten today. I'm not going to lie, it was tough for me, but she was thrilled and excited and giddy to be starting school. The morning started with Emma Catherine's alarm clock going off at 6:30. She came in my room half asleep and laid on the floor for a few minutes. Then she quickly perked up and made her bed and got dressed. She ate breakfast and then we went to the bus stop to meet the bus driver. Emma Catherine is going to be riding the bus home from school and Ryan is going to take her to school in the mornings. This morning we all took her to school. We were able to walk her to the front door of the school and then the 5th grade ambassadors took her to her room. As we walked up to the front door, I started crying. She gave all of us hugs and I tried to hug her tight and she was ready to walk inside, and that was it. She is now a kindergartener.

I cried all the way back home and then Bailey and I kept busy. We went to the park with friends, ran to a quick appointment, and went home for lunch and her nap. At 3:00 I waited for Emma Catherine at her bus stop and she bounced off the bus. For some reason I got teary again but I held it together. She told us her day was awesome and that she loved her school and teacher. They did lots of fun activities, painting, a scavenger hunt, read books, sang, colored, and she got to eat school lunch.

I actually know Emma Catherine's teacher from college and it is so funny how it worked out. One of my prayers for Emma Catherine this year is for her to gain confidence in herself. I also wrote that on her paperwork that asked for my goals for her this year. At the parent meeting her teacher, Averee, told us that her job this year was to build confidence in her students, and if they leave her class without confidence then she has failed at her job. I once again got teary (can you see the theme) when I realized that this was confirmation that this was exactly who was supposed to be Emma Catherine's teacher this year. I am looking forward to the adventure of kindergarten, and an exciting year.

Back to School Pedicures

2011-08-14T21:50:00.000-05:00

On Friday I took the girls to get back to school pedicures. I thought they would think it was a fun girls' activity. Bailey actually got really nervous at first and didn't want to put her feet in the water but the lady doing her nails was great and she convinced her that it would be okay. The place we went has a kids' area, which made it more fun for the girls.

Our Summer

2011-08-13T22:11:00.000-05:00

Well, out summer is just about over, and surprisingly, I am sad. I thought I might be ready for the girls to go back to school because we have been together 24/7, but I am not. I thoroughly enjoyed this summer with the girls. We had no schedule and just enjoyed each day as it came. We were able to go to VBS, play dates at church, visit my family in Florida, and have my parents here for 3 weeks or so. We also spent a LOT of time at the pool and the library.

We went to the library at least once a week the whole summer. We checked out books, movies, CD's, played on the computer sand collected prizes for the reading club. This summer the theme at the library was One World, Many Stories so on the bulletin boards in the children's area they had large pictures of countries that were actually collages of copies of book covers. Each week they placed a snapshot of 2 librarians in each country and the kids get to go to each country and try to find the hidden picture. Once you found the picture in each country, you got a prize. I'm not sure if that even makes sense, but the girls loved doing this and now our library bag is full of little trinkets from each week.

At the beginning of the summer, we joined the neighborhood pool and we loved it. Generally, the girls enjoyed going back and forth from the baby pool to the big pool. Emma Catherine loved the diving board and became very brave.

Good bye summer, we'll miss you!

Swim Lessons

2011-08-13T21:21:00.000-05:00

At the end of the summer we took swim lessons with some friends at the swim teacher's house. For Emma Catherine we just wanted her to work on her strokes and we were hoping Bailey would get more confident in the water. I think it was beneficial for both of them. Bailey actually went underwater a few times and she would put her face in the water to pick up a toy. She still doesn't like to jump in the pool for fear that she will go underwater, but she did jump a few times. As the end of the swimming season is ending, I am hoping that we have built a foundation to build on next summer.

At the end of swim lessons, they were able to go down the slide. Emma Catherine loved it and Bailey wasn't too sure but she did go down after much persuasion.

My Parents' Visit

2011-08-08T21:23:00.000-05:00

One good thing about my parents both being teachers is that they get the summers off. This summer they came up and spent most of July with us. It was generally a low key visit, which I liked. They did some of the normal activities that the girls and I do each week like the library and swimming, and we did take a mini trip to visit my sister in Nashville, and a day trip to visit some friends in Huntsville. Unfortunately, as I looked back over my pictures from the time they were here, I realized I didn't take nearly enough of them.

Most of the pictures are from our visit with my sister in Nashville.

3rd of July

2011-08-04T21:24:00.000-05:00

Well, better late than never. July has come and gone and I still haven't posted our pictures from the 3rd of July. Yep, it's not a misprint, we watched fireworks on the beach on the 3rd and then we traveled back to Birmingham on the 4th.

We had a great idea to take a picnic to the beach and watch the fireworks. Over the water it was beautiful,

and the plan went off well until these clouds started rolling in.

A big storm rolled in with lots of loud thunder and people were running to their cars. We decided to try to wait it out in the car and luckily the storm didn't last long, and they went ahead with the fireworks.

We also got a few cute pictures before the rain came.

Florida Family Vacation pt. 2

2011-07-18T15:36:00.000-05:00

We spent the second half of our vacation on Siesta Key Beach. We decided to do that because we could still be close to family (my grandpa lives only about 5 minutes from there) and still enjoy the benefits of a beach house. We stayed in a duplex with my parents and sister on one side and Ryan, the girls, and me on the other side. It worked out well because we also had a pool and we were only about 2 blocks off the beach. Our trip included lots of the beach...

some swimming...

some magic tricks with Papa...

some eating....

and some family photos...

Florida Family Vacation pt. 1

2011-07-11T21:20:00.000-05:00

There was much debate in my family this year about what to do for family vacation. After throwing out a lot of ideas, we decided on a 2 part vacation. We went to the Coco Key Resort in Orlando for 3 days and we went to Siesta Key Beach for 3 days. It worked out perfectly, and it was a great vacation.

The girls and I went down a few days early and they got to go to VBS for a couple of days. Well, Emma Catherine got to go 2 days, and poor Bailey only went 1 day because she got the stomach bug. She also had to miss the family night with the water inflatables. My mom volunteered to watch Bailey and I took Emma Catherine up to church.

On Saturday we celebrated my birthday and my dad's birthday with our family. The girls were so excited because they each went down to my aunt's house and made a birthday sign for my dad and for me.

My dad was super excited about his flag shirt. I guess since he is a history teacher, it fits him perfectly.

On Sunday we headed to CoCo Key resort. It is just a regular hotel except that it has a water park outside and your stay there includes admission to the water park.

Emma Catherine loved all the water slides and was mad about the ones she wasn't tall enough to ride. Bailey was another story. It took her awhile to warm up to the water slides because of her already mentioned hatred of getting her face wet. It took some convincing but eventually she went on the little slides a few of the bigger ones.

On Sunday night we got to go out to eat with one of my really good friends from high school. Rebekah and Mike live in Orlando and I haven't gotten to see them in a long time. Recently they had a new baby, Gracyn, and we all got to meet her for the first time.

On Monday we spent the day at Sea World. My parents had been promising Emma Catherine to take her to Sea World, so we planned the Orlando part of our trip around it. I was worried (especially after all my Disney planning) that Sea World would be packed since it is summer, but it really wasn't that bad. It was definitely hot but in the afternoon there was a light rain shower that cooled things off.

On Tuesday we spent the morning at the water park, and then we headed back to Palmetto to do laundry and get ready to go to the beach. It was a great 3 days in Orlando.

Gene Chizik

2011-07-08T20:19:00.000-05:00

Today Gene Chizik came to town to sign copies of his new book, All In. We were so excited to meet him and to read his book. We knew he was coming to Hoover from 3 to 5 but on a whim, last night we stopped by Lifeway to get all the details for the book signing. They mentioned that you had to get tickets for the event today at 10, which we hadn't known about. We were so thankful that we stopped by and the girls and I got in line this morning for a ticket at 9:30. We were number 8 in line, which again we were so thankful for because once Coach Chizik got there we didn't have to wait long at all. The book signing was like a cattle call, with a lot of rules such as no personalizations, no posed pictures, and no memorabilia, but he would sign 4 books for each ticket. We got to tell him thank you and War Eagle and he told us how cute and adorable the girls were. He also asked them to give him a War Eagle, which they did. Ryan and I both felt a little star-struck because we love him and Auburn so much. I can't wait to read his book. In fact, I'm starting tonight!

Atlanta

2011-06-15T20:38:00.000-05:00

Last week Ryan had a work conference at his Atlanta office. The beauty of summer is that the girls and I had nothing pressing going on, so we packed up and went with him. I wasn't sure how it would go with us only taking 1 car and having to get up early to take Ryan to work each morning but it worked out just fine and we had a fun and relaxing time.

We started off on Monday by heading straight to Ryan's brother's house. They live just outside of Atlanta and we wanted to see them since it's been awhile. All the kids had a great time playing together and then we went to dinner with them at one of their local favorites.

On Tuesday morning we took Ryan to work and then we relaxed in the hotel and then spent a couple of hours swimming in the hotel pool. We had the pool to ourselves and it was heated so at lunch time, I had to make them get out. I forgot to take my camera down to the pool, but we went swimming with Ryan again on Wednesday night and I took some pictures then. Emma Catherine is swimming by herself all over the place. Bailey, on the other hand, still does not like her face to get wet. That kind of hinders the whole "learning to swim" process, so hopefully that will get better as the summer goes on. I did convince her to go under water with me a few times but she didn't like it at all.

After lunch, we went back to the hotel to take naps. When we woke up, we went to pick up Ryan and we got to experience Atlanta traffic...not fun, but thankfully the girls had their DVD players. Ryan took us into the office to show us around and the girls got to see a valve that he sells (a small one from what I understand).

When then headed to dinner.

On Wednesday we took Ryan to work again and then came back to get ready. We then went to Monkey Joe's, which is an indoor inflatable place, and we met one of my best friends from college, Jenn, who lives in Atlanta. It was so good to see her and catch up. After playing and then lunch, I decided to go see Jenn's new house that she bought last year. She has great taste in decorating and furniture and it was fun to see her place in person. Jenn recently started a blog herself, and you can read her recap of our visit here.

After our visit with Jenn, we headed to pick Ryan up from work a little early so we could miss the traffic. We then headed to the hotel for a swim and then to dinner. Thursday Ryan had to work half a day so the girls and I hung around the hotel room, read books and played. Earlier in the week I had noticed a nice McDonald's near our hotel so at lunch time, we checked out of our hotel and then headed there to eat and play until Ryan was finished. We then headed back to Birmingham. Poor Bailey was worn out. She never sleeps in the car, and about 45 minutes or so out of Birmingham, she fell asleep.

It was a great trip, and we were thankful to be with Ryan, rather than by ourselves at the house.

The Zoo with Friends

2011-06-02T20:41:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, we went to the zoo with some dear friends. Rachel and Andrew were some of first married friends when we lived in Dothan. We went to church together and Rachel and I taught at the same school. When they moved to Birmingham, we were so sad, but now 5 years later (I think) we live in the same area again. We live in different cities, but close enough that hopefully we will see each other more. Things have changed since we were newlyweds in Dothan, most notably the 5 girls that we have between us. They have 3 precious girls and we were glad to spend some time with them at the zoo.

Also, this week we went back to the zoo with our next door neighbor, Lilly. I didn't take many pictures, and it was very hot, but we still had a good time. The girls also got to play in the fountains, which they have been asking to do.

Preschool Graduation

2011-05-23T23:27:00.000-05:00

On Thursday Emma Catherine graduated from 4 year old preschool. Where did the time go? It's so crazy because I have been so emotional about her starting kindergarten. She doesn't seem old enough, even though I know she is ready. She has matured a lot this year and for the most part, she is excited to start big school. I just want to make sure to enjoy the summer with her.

For her graduation program, all the K4 classes and the one kindergarten class preformed a little play. They all sang songs together and each class got to sing a song alone. A few kids from each class had speaking parts, but Emma Catherine didn't have one this time. I was actually relieved since she was so nervous and wouldn't say her part at Christmas. Overall, Ryan and I thought Emma Catherine was very serious and concentrated during the program, but as I looked back over the pictures I took, I caught her smiling quite a few times.

This picture cracks me up. It's the only one I got of her whole class and she is yawning.

Here Emma Catherine is getting her diploma from her teacher, Mrs. Michelle.

We are so proud of her!

Emma Catherine and a few of her friends.

Emma Catherine and Mrs. Michelle.

And here is Bailey on her last day, with her teacher, Mrs. Nickey.

The Gymnastics Show

2011-05-18T15:31:00.001-05:00

Each spring, the place where the girls take gymnastics has a show for all the kids to show what they learned. It is almost like a mini recital. This year the theme was Peace, Love, and Gymnastics. My mom and sister came to spend the weekend with us and watch the big show.

Bailey went first and was such a ham. She waved to us and smiled the whole time.

Emma Catherine was excited too but she was more serious about doing her gymnastics.

When we moved from Chattanooga, I was hoping to find a good gym around the area for them to continue gymnastics and I am glad we found this gym. The girls have loved their teachers and the friends they met.

Easter

2011-05-09T22:37:00.000-05:00

It has been awhile since I have blogged and there has been so much going on, especially in our state. I have such a heavy heart that there is such devastation around us. We were fine during the storm, thankfully. We did lose power for 3 days, but during those LONG days, I constantly reminded myself how grateful I was to even have a house after so many don't have one anymore.

Before the storm hit, we celebrated Easter. On Saturday of Easter weekend we went to Ryan's parents to visit. They girls dyed eggs, ate an Easter lunch, and hunted some eggs.

On Easter Sunday we got ready and went to church extra early since Ryan and I sing in the choir and we had a practice. Our Easter service was excellent and then we helped in the nursery during the next service. We had trouble finding a place to eat after church so we ended up at McDonalds. The girls were happy, and we were together, so that place didn't matter, but we have gotten a few laughs about it. After the girls took a nap, we let them hunt Easter eggs in our yard. Yes, this was their 3rd Easter egg hunt.

Our pictures on Easter were rushed and at a bad angle, but we tried.

The Zoo

2011-04-25T21:42:00.000-05:00

The week before A-Day we debated and debated on whether or not to go to A-Day. We wondered if the girls would enjoy it because we weren't sure that the band and cheerleaders would be there. Even on Friday night we called my sister to see if she wanted to go down with us and watch the game and then also watch softball. She was busy and we just decided to do something that we knew the girls would enjoy.

For Christmas, my parents gave us year passes to the Birmingham Zoo. Because of the cold weather, we hadn't used them yet, so we decided to go and do that for the day. I didn't know what to expect at the zoo because the Chattanooga Zoo isn't that great, but it is a great zoo. There were lots of animals and some shows and the girls loved the train ride. We also look forward to playing in the fountains in the children's area this summer.

Life Connection Group

2011-04-17T22:28:00.000-05:00

One of the things that drew us to the church we joined in Birmingham was our Life Connection Group (also known as a Sunday School class). A couple invited us to the class the very first Sunday we visited the church, and we felt so welcome. All the couples in the class have children about the same age and we enjoy having fellowships with our class.

Last week our class had a family cook-out and Easter Egg Hunt. I think there were 22 kids there and the Easter Egg hunt was crazy with so many kids, but there were plenty of eggs to go around. The girls loved hunting the eggs. I wish I could have gotten a picture of all the kids together, but as soon as the kids found all the eggs, they were all worried about eating the candy.

Play Date

2011-04-14T21:19:00.000-05:00

Our neighbors have a new baby at their house, so last week we invited their older daughter, who is Bailey's age, to spend the morning playing with us. Emma Catherine loves crafts and has been begging to do a craft lately so I pulled out our craft box, and came up with a craft that would be easy. I cut out egg shapes out of construction paper and let them decorate the eggs with glitter paint pins, dot paints, sequins, etc. Then we glued a basket and the eggs on a piece of paper.

Spring Break pt. 2

2011-04-03T22:12:00.000-05:00

We spent the girls' spring break in Florida. As always, it was a fun time that included the girls getting to decorate cupcakes with their Noni, celebrating Papa's birthday, going to the beach, and just getting to be with family.

Spring Break pt1

2011-03-31T21:53:00.000-05:00

This year my parents' spring break fell the week before ours, so they came up here to visit. Unfortunately I didn't take many pictures of them (I hate that). We did have a good time though, with a small road trip, a huge craft show, and some sewing projects.

At the craft show the highlight for the girls were the people making balloon animals, or well, just about anything you could imagine. The girls choose Sleeping Beauty and Ariel. Anybody surprised?

Midway through their visit, we took a little road trip to Nashville to visit my sister, Lauren. We got to help her cook for her Monday night dinner crew, and meet the sweet little girls that she nannies.
When Carly came over to my sister's house, she brought the girls flower girl baskets and petals to practice being flower girls with, and practice they did. There were constantly petals everywhere.

No visit would be complete without sisters' pictures.

The second day of our trip, we went with Lauren to story time at the Nashville Library. We wondered if the girls Lauren nannies and my girls would be jealous of each other, but they weren't at all. The were instantly friends and there were no problems sharing Lauren.

It was a quick trip to Nashville but after debating weather or not to go with my parents, I am glad that we did. After the week with my parents, the girls and I headed back to Florida with them for the week...stay tuned.

Vote for my Friends

2011-03-23T22:10:00.000-05:00

Remember my friends, Carly and Kurt, from my last post?

They are getting married on October 1st and I am so excited for them. They have entered the Crate and Barrel Ultimate Wedding Contest, and I'm not sure how many people actually read my blog, but if you do, will you please take the time to vote for them? They were actually leading the contest at one point, but have now fallen back a little bit, so they need your vote. You can only vote once per email address, so vote with each email you have. Also, make sure to watch the video Kurt made of their proposal (on their profile). Here's the link:
http://www.ultimateweddingcontest.com/entry/97580

Now vote, vote, vote!

Nashville comes to Birmingham

2011-03-14T20:19:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, some very good friends (including my sister) from Nashville came to visit us in Birmingham. It was a fun weekend. Saturday was Carly's birthday and we got to celebrate with her. The morning started with a birthday muffin for Carly.

Then a little dress up.

A birthday lunch at Flip Burger.

We asked a man to take the above picture and when we went into the restaurant we realized the girls were missing in the picture. (see their bows) After lunch we asked someone to try again.

We then headed to the park since the weather was so beautiful.

Kurt and I had the same plan for Carly's birthday. We both got her a cake. I got her a princess ice cream cake and he got her the caramel cake she loves.

Then the big surprise for the girls: Carly and Kurt asked them to be flower girls in their wedding. They were so excited.

Dinner at a local Italian place ended the night.

The weekend wouldn't be complete without sisters' pictures for 2011.

Disney - Day 7

2011-03-02T23:18:00.000-06:00

On Day 7 our wonderful Disney vacation was over. We just had such a great time that none of us wanted it to be over. During the fireworks show the night before, which is called Wishes, Emma Catherine wanted us all to make a wish. Her wish was that we could all come back to Disney World. I still think about our trip with our little family and look forward to the day when we can go again.

We slept in just a little and then we had to pack up. We then ran to Downtown Disney for just a second and then we headed to Palmetto to celebrate birthdays with my family. That day it was my aunt's birthday and we also celebrated the girls' birthdays with my family.

Disney - Day 7

2011-02-24T20:58:00.000-06:00

This was our last day at Disney and we started with breakfast at 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian. In the morning there are different characters then at dinner. We got to see Mary Poppins, Pooh, Tigger, the Mad Hatter, and Alice in Wonderland.

Friday was the only day I had not planned because I wasn't sure what the girls would feel like doing after 6 days at Disney. Once we finished breakfast, we decided to go back to the Magic Kingdom because that was girls' favorite park. We headed to Frontierland to get on the train because Bailey loves trains, but before we got on, Emma Catherine wanted to ride Splash Mountain one more time since there was no wait. She rode it with Ryan and then we hopped on the train and rode 1 1/2 times around the park. We got off in Toon Town and rode the barnstormer one more time. We then rode the tea cups and it's a small world.

At that point we felt the crowds were too much to handle, even though I realize the crowds weren't even that bad, but we had been spoiled all week. We got fast passes for Peter Pan because the girls were hoping to ride it one more time and we headed back to our hotel to swim a little bit.

We ate an early dinner at our hotel and went back to the Magic Kingdom to see the fireworks one more time. First off, we got Mickey Mouse ice cream that we had been waiting to try and we got a good place to watch the fireworks. We finished our ice cream and still had a little bit of time before the show so the girls and I ran (literally) to use our fast passes and ride Peter Pan one last time.

I can't even say what a great end the Magic, Memories, and You show and the fireworks were to our week!

Disney - Day 6

2011-02-23T22:25:00.000-06:00

We continued the theme for the week, and started the day at the opening of Epcot. We headed straight for Soarin' because we knew it always has the longest lines. Bailey wasn't tall enough to ride the ride so we did a rider swap and Emma Catherine got to ride with each of us. We then rode the Living with the Land boat ride, Journey into the Imagination with Figment, and the Nemo ride again. We then did the Turtle Talk with Crush.

We then went back to the Land Pavilion to watch the Circle of Life movie and then we ate lunch there. It was then nap time since we knew we would be out late watching IllumiNations.

The girls had no problem taking a nap and then we headed back to Epcot. We rode Spaceship Earth and then the girls played in the Spaceship Earth Pavilion.

Next up we rode Ellen's Energy Adventure and then Ryan wanted to ride Mission: Space. I took the girls to play in the Innovations building and then we headed to our reservations at Akershus for Princess Storybook Dining. It was another good meal and the girls got to see Belle, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Cinderella, and Ariel. One point all the kids got to go on a parade through the restuarant with the princesses. Sleeping Beauty asked Bailey to hold her flower basket. It was another special moment that Bailey still talks about.

We still had a little bit of time after dinner before the show, so we rode the Maelstrom ride in Norway and the Gran Fiesta Tour boat ride in Mexico. It was then time for IllumiNations. We really liked the fireworks over the water. After the show, we looked in a souvenir store to let the crowds die down and then we headed back to our resort.

Disney - Day 5

2011-02-22T22:07:00.000-06:00

We started Day 5 at the opening of the Magic Kingdom. Once the park opened, we headed straight for Tomorrowland. It was so odd because we felt like we were in the only ones there. It was so quiet and we walked on Buzz Lightyear, the Astro Orbiter, the Tomorrowland Speedway, and grabbed fast passes for Space Mountain.

It was then 10:00 and we headed right for the opening of Toon Town to see Tinkerbelle and the faires. There were only a few people ahead of us and when we came out, the wait was 45 minutes. We then decided to see the princesses next door.

Next we rode the Barnstormer, or the Goofy coaster, as Bailey called it. Bailey was actually tall enough to ride it so we all got to ride it together. She was very nervous while we were riding the coaster but after it she was so proud of herself. We toured Minnie's house, and then it was time to go to our brunch/lunch reservations at Chef Mickey's. We got to ride the monorail to the Contemporary, which the girls thought was fun. We loved Chef Mickey's. The breakfast was yummy and we got to see Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, and Pluto. Minnie loved the girls' red polka dot bows.

After lunch, I had planned to go back to the hotel to take a nap, but Ryan convinced me to go back to the park since the weather was great, the crowds were low, and the girls were happy. We headed to Space Mountain to use our fast passes. Emma Catherine wanted to ride and went with Ryan. Once again, it wasn't quite what she expected and she didn't want to go on it with me. We then rode the people mover and the Carousel of Progress. As we headed across the park to see if Splash Mountain had opened, the show on the castle stage was starting to we decided to watch it. As it was finishing it was about to be time for the parade, but we decided to keep walking. Eventually, though, the parade caught up to us so we just stopped and watched it. We finally made it to Splash Mountain and Emma Catherine and I rode it while Ryan stood in line with Bailey to meet Jesse and Woodie.

We went to meet Tiana next, but we had a few minutes to spare so we looked around the Christmas store and Ryan went to get us a fast pass for Peter Pan. We loved meeting Tiana and Naveen because they were so friendly and at one point they even hopped around like frogs with the girls. Also, Naveen remembered blowing the girls a kiss during the parade.

To finish a great day we rode Peter Pan, the carousel, watched Mickey's PhilharMagic, and ate dinner. We then headed to our hotel to get a good night's sleep.

Happy Birthday, Bailey

2011-02-21T21:40:00.000-06:00

Our sweet Bailey girl turned 3 today! I can't believe it. She is so funny and keeps us laughing all the time. She says off the wall and random things all the time. For example, last Saturday she woke up and ran into our room and said, "Hey guys, let's talk about Rapunzel." Then she proceeded to tell us parts of the Rapunzel movie. Sometimes all Ryan and I can do is laugh.

Today I took Bailey to ride the carousel while Emma Catherine was at school. I had a good time being with her and celebrating her. Tonight for dinner she chose Taco Bell. She had a hard time deciding between Taco Bell, McDonalds, and Chick-fil-A and every time we asked her she said something different. She finally settled on Taco Bell. We came home for her to open a few presents and to have her Sleeping Beauty cake.

In my family we have a little birthday tradition. When we are celebrating someone's birthday, after we say the blessing, we all yell, "God bless the birthday girl (or boy)." Tonight when I was getting Bailey ready for bed she said, "God bless the birthday girl. Today is my birthday, so God bless me." I love her so much!

Disney - Day 4

2011-02-17T21:52:00.000-06:00

We started Day 4 at the opening of Hollywood Studios. As soon as the park opened, we headed straight for Toy Story Mania. It seems as if everyone else was going there too but we got right in line and walked onto the ride. I thought it was so fun and definitely one of our favorite rides. We decided to go ahead and get fast passes for it so we could ride again in the afternoon. We then went to see the Voyage of the Little Mermaid. Ariel is Emma Catherine's favorite princess, so she was very excited about it. A cast member asked if the girls wanted to open the show, so they both got a turn to say, "Welcome to the Little Mermaid."

We then headed to the Rock 'N Roller Coaster. Ryan and I took turns riding while the girls decorated records with stickers.

We then headed to Muppets: 3D and then we rode the Studio Backlot Tour. After lunch we used our fast passes for Toy Story Mania, and then we headed to the Tower of Terror. We tried to explain to Emma Catherine what it was as best we could, and she insisted that she wanted to ride it. She went on it with Ryan, and he said during the ride she said, "This is not what I expected." Needless to say, she didn't want to ride with me when I went on it. We then saw the Beauty and the Beast Show.

After the show we rode the Great Movie Ride and then spent some time in the Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area. The girls really liked this area and didn't want to leave.

It was then time to head to our dinner reservations at 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian. Because of our transportation problems the day before, we wanted to give ourselves plenty of time to get there, and we actually got there early. We decided to explore the Grand Floridian a little while and we ended up in the back by the water.

We then headed to our reservations. At night the characters at 1900 Park Fare are all from Cinderella. The stepsisters were so funny and really into character. When Cinderella and the Prince came out, they did a dance together and then they picked a few kids to come dance with them. Bailey got to dance with the Prince and I can't even tell you how precious it was. He tried to let Emma Catherine have a turn too but she didn't want to.

After dinner we called it a night and headed back to our hotel.

Disney - Day 3

2011-02-16T20:31:00.000-06:00

We started off very early because we had breakfast reservations at 8:15 at the Tusker House restaurant in Animal Kingdom. It was a yummy breakfast and we got to see Donald Duck, Mickey, Goofy, and Daisy while were eating. This was Bailey's first experience with these characters and she wasn't a fan. She's not in most of the pictures because she was scared.

Before breakfast, Ryan had picked up Fast Passes for the Safari ride, so after breakfast we headed to ride it. We enjoyed it and actually got to see a lot of animals. We then boarded the train to the Rafiki's Planet Watch area mainly because the girls wanted to meet Pocahontas. While we were in that area, they also got to touch a snake and pet some animals.

We then headed to the Nemo Musical, which will all enjoyed and then we let the girls play in Dino Land and Ryan and I took turns riding Expedition Everest. We had eaten such a big lunch we decided to just use a few snack credits from our meal plan to hold us over for dinner. We then headed to watch the Lion King show. At that point we decided we had seen all of Animal Kingdom that we wanted to see. It was really too late for naps so we decided to head to Downtown Disney for a little while.

We went to the bus station to find the bus to Downtown Disney and found out that there wasn't a direct bus. I asked a bus driver how to get to Downtown Disney and he told us to go to Saratoga Springs resort and we could walk to Downtown Disney from there. On the bus we ran into a sorority sister of mine at Auburn (small world) and she told us we could actually take a boat there. We decided to try that and after getting lost at the resort just a little bit, we finally found the boat and rode to Downtown Disney.

The main thing the girls wanted to do was to spend some of their birthday money that they got from their aunts. They both choose the same Minnie Mouse. We looked around at the stores and then found out that we could use our meal plan at Downtown Disney so we found a quick service spot and had dinner.

That night we wanted to go the the Electrical Parade at the Magic Kingdom which started at 7:00. At 6:00 we headed to the bus station to find the bus to the Magic Kingdom. For the 2nd time in the same day, the buses didn't go directly where we wanted to go. The bus driver for our hotel really wanted to help us out so he called up to the bus that went to the wilderness lodge and had him wait for us at the next Downtown Disney stop. We then hopped on the Wilderness Lodge bus. At the wilderness lodge we had to then wait for the Magic Kingdom bus. Once we finally got to the Magic Kingdom it was 7:05. We decided to go ahead and go in and try to see the parade because it was only offered on 2 nights. We rushed in and were able to see most of the parade. After the parade we left and headed to bed!

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-15T17:22:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite memories growing up was how my family celebrated Valentine's Day. My mom always cooked a special dinner and then Mom, Dad, Lauren and I had a candle light dinner. I decided this year that I wanted to try to do a special candle light dinner with the girls, and we even used our china, which sadly, we've only used a few times in our 7 1/2 years of marriage. Emma Catherine and I made heart shaped brownies and then she and Bailey decorated them with pink icing.

Of course things never quite turn out as we envision them. Emma Catherine didn't like the candle light and argued for awhile about wanting the lights on. Then Bailey looked at her food and told us she didn't like it and didn't want to eat it. We reminded her that we made the special dessert but it didn't make much difference. She whined about her dinner the whole time. Oh well, we'll try again next Valentine's Day.

Disney World - Day 2

2011-02-14T15:41:00.000-06:00

We spent day 2 at the Magic Kingdom. We made the choice to be at the parks each morning at the opening. The crowds are less and the waits are less, and usually there is some sort of little opening show. We thought the opening at the Magic Kingdom was great, especially when Mickey came riding in on the train.

Once the park opened we headed straight back to Fantasyland. We rode Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, It's a Small World, and the Tea Cups all with no wait. I then wanted to try to find Rapunzel because the girls wanted to meet her. We found where she was and they had just started her little show, so we decided to go ahead and wait. Ryan went to get Fast Passes for Big Thunder Mountain and the girls played their leapsters and had snacks while we waited. The wait went really fast and then we went in. All the kids got to go around a big table and color a Rapunzel coloring sheet and the parents waited in line. Rapunzel and Flynn Rider came out and did a dance with all the kids and then they came and got in line to meet them. It was a lot of fun.

After that the girls got changed into their princess outfits and it was time for our reservations at Cinderella's Royal Table, which was in the castle. I can speak safely to say that this was our favorite character meal. It just felt so special to be in the castle and the room felt more intimate than other character meals we went to. Cinderella greeted everyone at the door for pictures, and then while we were eating, Ariel, Snow White, Jasmine, and Belle all came to our table to sign the girls' books and to take pictures. Because we were celebrating the girls' birthdays, they got cupcakes and ice cream sundaes for dessert.

After lunch we headed back to our hotel and the girls and I took a nap while Ryan did work outside by the pool. The girls took a good nap and as soon as we got moving again, we headed straight back to the Magic Kingdom. We picked up fast passes for the Jungle cruise and then headed to use our fast passes from earlier on Thunder Mountain. Emma Catherine took turns riding with Ryan and then with me. She really liked the ride. We then rode the Jungle Cruise and headed to grab a bite to eat. After dinner it was time to get a seat for the new Magic, Memories, and You show and the fireworks. I can't even tell you how great the new show was. During the show they project pictures from the day on the castle and at one point toward the end, pictures of Emma Catherine and Bailey individually were on the castle. It really was an unforgettable memory. The fireworks were great too.

After the fireworks, we decided to stay for extra magic hours for a little bit. We rode the Magic Carpet ride, Dumbo and Peter Pan, and then decided to call it a night.

Disney World - Day 1

2011-02-11T11:40:00.000-06:00

Last week we took the girls to Disney World to celebrate their birthdays. We have been saving on and off for the trip for over a year and we have always told the girls that they would be going for their 5th and 3rd birthdays. For the last year Emma Catherine has told everyone that "when I turn 5, I'm going to Disney World." To say that we were all very excited is an understatement. As a disclaimer, I am going to go through our week day by day because I really want all the memories recorded. It was a fabulous week with great weather, low crowds, and lots of fun.

I worked really hard on the planning of the trip and Ryan thought maybe I went overboard, but in the end, we were all glad with the planning. One great thing was that we were able to go during the free dining plan promotion so we were able to go to a different character meal each day. I think that the meals really made the trip. Also, I planned in advance which parks we would go to each day and I used touring plans to even help plan the order of the rides. As an FYI touring plans is a great website that gives the crowd levels per day and also gives plans for each park on each day to give you the least amount of wait time on each ride. They also have an app that is constantly updated with the actual wait times for each ride in the park. We used it the whole time.

We actually left for Disney World late on Friday afternoon. We had already reserved a hotel in Tallahassee, where we spent the night. The next morning we woke up and drove to our Disney resort, Pop Century. We got there around 3ish, checked in and went straight to our room. Once we put our suitcases in the room, we headed to the buses to go to Epcot. One thing that we loved about staying on property was the we didn't have to drive our car all week. We took the Disney buses everywhere we went. Since we were going to be doing at least one other full day at Epcot we decided to use the afternoon to try and see some of the characters and the world showcase part of the park. As we wandered back there, we saw Test Track and Ryan wanted to go on it at some point so he went ahead and got fast passes for all of us. We headed to China to see Mulan first because her meet and greet time was coming up first. We wandered around China a little bit because we weren't sure where she would be. Finally I asked a CM (cast member) where she would be and as we were just getting to the at spot, Mulan appeared and we were 2nd in line.

Next we headed to meet Sleeping Beauty, Bailey's favorite princess. Once again we were standing around trying to figure out where she would be and she appeared. I pointed her out to the girls as she walked by and told them to follow her. She heard me and said, "I'll take them with me." Bailey jumped out of the stroller and walked hand in hand with her. Emma Catherine acted more shy and didn't get out of the stroller for awhile.

By the time they got to her spot, Emma Catherine had caught up and Sleeping Beauty spent time talking to them and taking pictures. She was so sweet to them.

Since we were already in the area we decided to get in line to see Belle and the Beast. Bailey was not sure about the Beast and wanted to stay away from him.

Next I thought the girls might want to ride a ride so we went to find the Finding Nemo ride. They thought it was fun and we told them they would be able to ride it again another day.

It was time to use our fast passes for Test Track so we headed over there. Emma Catherine wasn't sure if she wanted to ride but at the last minute decided to go head. She and I rode it first and she loved it. We had gotten a rider swap since Bailey wasn't tall enough, so Ryan took her again when it was his turn. By the time we all rode, it was dinner time. We ate and then headed back to our hotel to get a good night's sleep.

**In a lot of the pictures the girls are wearing birthday buttons that they gave us when we checked in. Everywhere we went CMs said happy birthday to them and the loved all the attention!

**Also, we used the Disney photo pass photographers to take a lot of pictures, especially pictures of our whole family. We had pre-ordered the photo pass CD because it was cheaper to do ahead of time. I am still editing the pictures so I don't have the CD yet. That is why there won't be any family pictures on our Disney recap. I wanted to go ahead and write the recap because I didn't want to forget the details. Maybe once I get the CD, I'll just do a Disney family picture post.

Happy Birthday Emma Catherine

2011-01-27T23:10:00.000-06:00

I can't believe that Emma Catherine turned 5 today. More than any birthday she's had so far, I have been so sentimental. I think that in my mind, 5 years old was always far away, but now I realize that kindergarten is just around the corner. It doesn't feel like it's time. She's changing right before my eyes, and I love her to death.

Today she had school and after lunch, I brought cupcakes for her to share with her class. She picked out the cupcakes she wanted...orange and blue. Pink is her favorite color so I asked if she wanted pink but she would hear nothing of it. She had her mind set on orange and blue cupcakes for Auburn. (We were so proud.)

For dinner she wanted to go to CiCi's pizza and then we can home for a Belle cake and a few presents. I thought it was funny that she wanted to know why she doesn't start kindergarten tomorrow. We've always talked about that you go to kindergarten when you turn 5, so she's ready to start now. I just think she's too cute. Of course, I'm her mom.

It was a good day for all of us, although the real fun begins tomorrow when we leave for Disney World. We are going to celebrate both girls' birthdays, which is their main present this year.

Easy Bake Oven

2011-01-19T16:01:00.000-06:00

For Christmas my aunt got Emma Catherine an Easy Bake Oven and today we finally used it for the first time. Emma Catherine was excited about it and has been asking to use it for a week.

When we took it out of the oven the first time, it didn't really seem to be cooked all the way. I think it was my fault because I put in 2 packets of cake mix because one packet didn't look like much at all. I put it back in the oven, but I thought it was hard because I couldn't see the cake so I wasn't really sure when it was done. I finally just took it out and went with it. It looked like this (pre-icing).

Not quite perfect but I think we'll get better at it next time. She didn't seem to mind anyway, especially once she iced it and then ate it.

She even decided on her own to save a little for her sister.

Down to One

2011-01-17T18:08:00.000-06:00

Yes, hooray, we are now the owners of only 1 house. Praise the Lord, and I mean that sincerely. We have finally sold our home in Chattanooga. When we decided to move to Birmingham in August even though we hadn't sold our house is Chattanooga, we knew it might be hard, but we felt that it was the best decision for our family. We still feel that way but are definitely glad the house sold.

This weekend we went to Chattanooga to close on our house. We met the sweet family who bought our house and also spent time with some friends and old neighbors. We loved our house there so much so we were glad that this couple was excited to be moving in. They have a 14 month old and a month old, bless them.

I absolutely never go anywhere without my camera and about 30 minutes down the road on Friday I realized that I had forgotten it....man. I hate missing memories, especially because it was such a fun weekend. After the closing, we took the girls bowling with our best friends and their 2 boys. It was a brand new bowling alley, so not smokey at all. It was a little crazy but fun. On Saturday we went to visit our neighbors and also saw the couple moving into our old house. We then hung out with our best friends again and then we to dinner with Emma Catherine's best friend's family (friends of Ryan and mine as well). I was worried about the girls having a hard time going back to Chattanooga and then coming home, but they haven't missed a beat.

Since I don't have any pictures of the weekend, I'll post a picture I never got around to posting. This is the girls posing when they go their new boots.

We Won!

2011-01-11T00:23:00.000-06:00

I am in such disbelief. We are the National Champs. Auburn won the game. I will admit that I shed tears as Wes Byrum's field goal went through the uprights. As I said earlier I love Auburn and am so proud to be an Auburn Tiger.

National Championship

2011-01-10T17:05:00.000-06:00

I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am about the National Championship game tonight. I love Auburn with all my heart and I'm so glad to see something so special happen to our school. If you didn't go to Auburn then it's hard to describe the feeling of family that we have. It is a special and unique place that I will forever be grateful for. I met my husband there, my best friends there, and I grew in my relationship with the Lord by leaps and bounds.
I have no family history with Auburn and I originally looked at Auburn because they had a gymnastics program and it wouldn't be too far from home. My parents took me to look at Auburn my junior year in high school and when we stepped on campus I knew it was a special place. At one point as we were walking through campus, I looked at my mom and said, "Even if gymnastics doesn't work out, I think this is where I want to go." My mom knew Auburn was the place because I had never even entertained the idea of not doing gymnastics in college. Needless to say, I broke my foot in my junior year and could never really get over it and ended up stopping gymnastics in the summer before my senior year. On the first day of my senior year, I applied to the one and only college I wanted to go to...Auburn. After that I never looked back. Not to say that everything was perfect while I was there but it was wonderful. I was so excited when my sister decided to go to Auburn because now we could share that special bond.
Ryan and I both love college football and never miss watching an Auburn game on TV and we try to make at least one game a season. I was a freshmen at Auburn the same year Tommy Tubberville came. We definitely went through so rebuilding years while I was there but Tommy put our program back on the map and he also put spiritual emphasis in the program. He hired Chette Williams to be one of the first full time football chaplains in the nation, and that is a legacy that continues today. They started Friday night prayer meetings for the team on nights before games and that has continued with one being held last night. Louie Giglio was even there with them. What a special team and a special place Auburn is. I admit that I was skeptical when Gene Chizik was hired but I am skeptical no more. When I watched the first episode of Auburn Tigers Everyday last year, I knew he was the right man for the job. Auburn I love you and good luck! You deserve the win, take it!
p.s. We are ALL IN!

Sewing

2011-01-07T15:40:00.000-06:00

One thing that I have wanted to do for awhile is to learn to sew. In fact last Christmas (2009) I asked Ryan to get me a starter sewing machine as a present, which he did. Unfortunately the machine sat in the box until November of this year almost a year later. In my defense, we did have a quite an unusual year with Ryan starting a new job, living apart for 6 months, and then moving, but none-the-less I never took any time to look for lessons. When we moved to Birmingham, I knew I wanted to make that a priority and I did. After searching numerous sewing stores, I found a lady who teaches private lesson for a reasonable price. In November I took my first set of 3 lessons. Since I knew nothing about sewing, we had to start from the beginning and then I sewed my first pair of ruffled pants for Bailey. The feeling of making something for my girls to wear that was reasonably priced and cute was so exciting for me. I enjoyed it even more than I thought I would. My teacher helped me cut out the pattern for Emma Catherine's pants and then I sewed hers all by myself at home. I definitely had a few frustrating moments of not remembering a few of the steps, but after a couple of calls to my mom, I completed her pants. They are not perfect by any means, and I still have a ton to learn but they are wearable and I made them. The pants look like this:

My mom is going to applique a shirt for them to wear with the pants and they will be ready to go. I hope to continue sewing and I am definitely going to take more lessons and I hope to post new projects along the way.

As a side note, I am going to try to post more this year about our day to day life. I have tended to get behind and then just post on the bigger events that we have had going on, but honestly, I want this blog to reflect our day to day life also. We'll see how it goes, but I am going to try.

Fun Florida Activities

2011-01-04T23:05:00.000-06:00

When we are in Florida we always stay very busy and this Christmas was no exception. One day we went to the Sailor Circus. It is a local circus made up of 4th -12th graders. They did all kids of acrobatic acts including the tight rope and trapeze. The girls were in awe. During the intermission, Bailey wanted to be apart of the show.

Another day we went to Busch Gardens. When we went back in the summer, they were giving year passes for the same price as a one day pass so we all got them. Since they were about to expire, we wanted to use them one more time, and we were so excited that my grandpa decided to come along. It was a fun day but VERY crowded.

Christmas

2011-01-04T22:37:00.000-06:00

We always spend Christmas with my family in Florida and we did this again this year. Our family has some unusual traditions that we do every year but we think they are fun and unique. We start by eating Olive Garden for lunch every Christmas Eve, then we go to Southgate Shopping Center, then we go to church, then we come home and take pictures, and then we make Mexican food for dinner.

The last 2 years we have taken Emma Catherine shopping to pick out presents for everyone in the family. We let her give the presents on Christmas Eve so they wouldn't get lost in the shuffle on Christmas day. I took her to the dollar store and let her pick out whatever she wanted for each person. She ended up picking out 2 presents for each person and she was very sure about each present that she picked. We really had to keep straight faces for some of the presents such as the fake flowers she picked out for my mom and the surfer figurine she picked out for my grandpa. Ryan and I thought the funniest thing about the surfer figurine was that on the tag it was called Tender Times, a spin off of the Precious Moments figurines. I'm not sure that anyone else thought it was as funny as we did, but we have laughed and laughed about it.

We then sent the girls to bed. They were so excited and also not used to sleeping in the same room so we ended having to separate them to get them to sleep and then put them back together once they were fully asleep. On Christmas morning we heard them talking and walked in the room to see this:

(Emma Catherine was hiding under the covers.) They ran to see what Santa brought them. Bailey got a new big girl bike and Emma Catherine got a plasma car.

We had a great Christmas day and ended the day at the annual Christmas party we go to with some of my grandpa's life long friends.

Cookie Party

2011-01-04T21:04:00.000-06:00

Right before we left for Florida for Christmas, we went to a cookie decorating party with some friends that we have met at church. The girls enjoyed the decorating, although Bailey ate most of her candy before she could put it on her cookies.

Christmas at the Causey's

2011-01-04T20:52:00.000-06:00

We always celebrate Christmas with Ryan's family the weekend before Christmas. It is fun because all the cousins are around the same age and they all play well together.

Christmas Card Holder

2010-12-22T22:21:00.000-06:00

I wanted to share this because I love it! Over the years I have looked for a way to display Christmas cards and never found anything that wasn't very expensive or that I liked. The last few years I had resorted to taping them to the wall. When I saw my neighbor had a homemade card holder, I was thrilled because I knew I could make it, so I copied hers. It was inexpensive to make and the girls were able to help put glitter on the clothespins, which they loved.

A Visit with Santa

2010-12-22T22:11:00.000-06:00

This year we decided to visit the Santa at Bass Pro Shop. We saw in the paper that they give you a free picture and you can also take your own pictures. They also had games the girls could play and a place to write letters to Santa. We were pleasantly surprised about how much there was to do and how much the girls liked it.

Christmas Card

2010-12-22T22:04:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Performances

2010-12-22T21:59:00.000-06:00

This year Emma Catherine had a Christmas performance at church with the preschool choir. She was even given a special part in the program. She had a verse to say in-between two songs. She had practiced the verse for weeks and definitely knew it. When it was her turn though to say her verse, she wouldn't say it at all. Finally they just went ahead with the new song. We asked her after the performance why she wouldn't say her verse and she told us it was because she is shy. Oh well, maybe next year.

Also, the girls each had a Christmas performance at their preschool. Bailey was so excited to get her turn to be on the stage.

New York City

2010-12-22T21:39:00.000-06:00

Each year in December our grandpa takes us to New York. He is so generous to take us we always have such a good time and make such great memories.

Game Day on the Plains part 2

2010-11-24T16:47:00.000-06:00

My sister called up a couple of weeks before Auburn's homecoming and wanted to know if we were going to the game because she and some Nashville friends wanted to come. We decided to try to find tickets for all of us and if we could, then we would take the girls into the game for the first time. We were excited to find 8 tickets so we all headed down to Auburn for homecoming. It was a fun day but boy, was it cold. The day earlier and the day after were really nice days but homecoming day was freezing especially in the upper deck, where our tickets were. The girls especially loved seeing Toomer's Corner.

The next day we had FAN day at our church so we dressed in our Auburn attire.

Trick or Treat

2010-11-19T21:51:00.000-06:00

On Halloween our neighbors invited us to go trick or treating with them. They have a little girl who is almost exactly Bailey's age so they all had a lot of fun together.

Pumpkin Carving

2010-11-15T22:06:00.000-06:00

We thought this fall we would try pumpkin carving with the girls. As you can see by their faces, they weren't fans of the inside of the pumpkin at first.

Ryan had a hard time cutting out the face. We just used a regular knife and we later learned that you can use special tools to make it easier. I guess we'll try that next year. I didn't take a picture of it but the girls were so excited when we put a candle in it once it got dark.

Fall Festival

2010-11-13T21:56:00.000-06:00

The weekend before Halloween the church we have been going to had its fall festival. We didn't know what to expect since this was our first fall festival in Birmingham but it was a lot of fun. It was definitely very crowded but the girls were happy (mostly).

The girls did the cake walk at least 10 times around. After a little while Ryan and I jumped in to try to increase our chances and we never won. Emma Catherine really wanted to keep going but we had to convince her that she was missing all the other fun stuff.

Pumpkin Patch part 2

2010-11-08T15:15:00.000-06:00

While we were in Florida, we went to a pumpkin there also. It had similar activities to the pumpkin patch we went to in Alabama, but we still had a good time.

Florida

2010-10-30T21:59:00.000-05:00

Last week, Ryan was traveling in Texas so the girls and I went to Florida to visit my family and to celebrate my mom's bday.

We had a great week while we were in Florida. It seems that usually when we are in Florida there is so much to do that we run ourselves ragged. This trip was much more low-key and relaxed. We enjoyed spending time with my family and seeing a few friends and celebrating my mom's birthday.

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-26T20:55:00.000-05:00

While my mom was here, my sister came into town for the weekend also and we went to a local pumpkin patch. It was great weather and we had a really good time.

Field Trip

2010-10-25T21:56:00.000-05:00

My mom flew into town a couple of weeks ago for a long weekend. After she landed we immediately went to Emma Catherine's filed trip to the pumpkin patch. It was a very small pumpkin patch but it was good to see the kids in Emma Catherine's class and she was so excited to have her Mia there.

Game Day on the Plains

2010-09-25T22:04:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday we took the girls to Auburn for the day. We were hoping to get tickets to see Auburn play Clemson, but it didn't work out. We couldn't find tickets anywhere except for some scalpers who were selling them in the hundreds of dollars. We decided that we could not justify spending that much money. Even though we didn't get to go into the game, we had a fun day with the girls.

It started with a visit with Pat Dye. He was signing autographs in downtown Auburn.

We got to see the new Auburn Arena.

We went to Tiger Walk.

Then we met up with some friends and saw sweet Rebekah again.

After that we realized it was getting close to kick off time and we weren't going to find tickets so we called it a day. We headed back to Birmingham to watch the game on DVR.

Mom of the Year

2010-09-17T18:15:00.000-05:00

So, I definitely think I should be a mom of the year candidate for this next story. Emma Catherine has had another loose tooth for awhile now and on the way home from school last Thursday, it became VERY loose. After some major dramatics that included saying that she couldn't walk up the stairs because of her loose tooth, it very easily came out. Also, I need to mention that she pulled it out. Thankfully I haven't had to pull any teeth yet and I hope that I don't have too because I really don't like to see loose teeth. When I taught 1st grade, I sent my kids with loose teeth to another class for another teacher to help.

When the tooth came out, I set it on the island in the kitchen so I could take care of the bleeding. After the bleeding stopped, I had to get Bailey down for her nap. After that I completely forgot about the tooth. Later on I was cleaning up the island and I scooped some crumbs off the counter and tossed them into the sink. I never once thought about the tooth. Before dinner I happened to remember the tooth, but it was too late. It was gone. Yep, mom of the year...threw my daughter's tooth in the sink.

Thankfully, Emma Catherine handled it better than I thought she would. I told her that we would write the tooth fairy a note to leave it outside of her door. This is the note she completely dictated to me.

After reading the last post on the tooth fairy, my sister in law reminded me about the tooth fairy pillow she had given to Bailey when she was a baby. I found it and we hung it on the door so that "no one" would come into her room. We left the note on the floor outside her door and she was content with that. I felt absolutely horrible but was so glad she was okay with the whole situation. Next time, I am going to be much more careful.

Here she is with 2 missing teeth. (Although the first permanent tooth is almost completely in)

The Fair

2010-09-15T21:48:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, Emma Catherine noticed a fair that was near our house. Ryan happened to be in the car when she noticed it and told her that we could go. I probably wouldn't have said we could go but since Ryan said yes, we wanted to take them. We had a good time doing something fun together as a family, especially since there has been a lot of stress in our family as of late. At the end of the night Ryan and I thought we would get the girls a treat, a funnel cake. We all shared one funnel cake, and as Emma Catherine was finishing up, she said, "I really didn't want this treat, I wanted cotton candy as my treat." It cracked me up.

School Time

2010-09-07T15:25:00.000-05:00

Today the girls had their first day of preschool.

This is before we went into school on Meet and Greet Day.

Our Journey to Birmingham

2010-08-27T15:33:00.000-05:00

I haven't written on the blog for so long mainly because so much has been going on. This will probably be a long, detailed post but I don't want to forget the memories of this big event in our lives. Once we got home from vacation, we hit the ground running to get ready for our move. There have definitely been some ups and downs with this move but after 6 months of our family being separated, it feels so good to be together again.

The first 4 months of Ryan being with his new job weren't too bad because the girls had school, I had bible study, and we had activities. Once the summer hit, we had nothing going on and it got rough. I missed Ryan like crazy and so did the girls. We decided to start getting serious about looking for a house. I went to Florida to visit my family in early June and while I was gone, Ryan went and looked at a house that he thought we might like. It definitely needed some work but was in the neighborhood we wanted to be in (mainly because of the school we want Emma Catherine to go to next year), and it was a good deal. What we didn't realize was that the owner of the house was a notorious lawyer/politician in Jefferson County who almost single-handedly put the county a huge amount of debt. Needless to say, he is not a really nice man and he was difficult to work with, and he wasn't even living in the house. At some point he fled to Florida. The house has been on and off the market for 3 years so you would think he would want to sell it, but he didn't make it easy on us.

Eventually, and thankfully he did come off the price and we were able to work out the specifics. The house did/does need some work though so as soon as we closed in July, Ryan and I spent that weekend and the next 2, ripping up carpet in the basement and then painting the whole basement and getting new carpet put in. We then moved on to painting the girls' rooms and starting on the living room. Our goal was just to get as far as we could before the movers were coming. We definitely couldn't have done it without help from my all my family and also our best friends in Chattanooga.

We definitely still have a lot of projects to do but I do really like our house. I like our quiet street and our shaded lot. The girls are seeming to adjust pretty well. Emma Catherine had a hard time at the beginning because of leaving her friends but lately has seemed to understand that this is our new home, and that we will make new friends. I think it will help when she starts preschool after labor day. We visited a church Sunday and they both did well and were happy. I am definitely ready for some consistency in our lives so them starting preschool, me starting back with Bible Study Fellowship, and us finding a church home will all help that.

I've left out a lot but that's okay. I'll be back soon for more posts about our new home/life. Here's a picture of our new house.

Summer Vacation

2010-07-29T18:34:00.000-05:00

This year for summer vacation, my parents rented a cabin in Sky Valley, GA. A family friend in Sarasota owns it and we had such a great time. It was a perfect location, with things to do in every direction and it was a large enough cabin for everyone to have some space. I think we took over 800 pictures during the week, which is crazy to me, so it is hard to choose which ones to post. It was a relaxing and fun week, except that Ryan and I were trying to close on our new house so we had to hunt around town for printers and fax machines a couple of different times.

We saw a lot of great scenery and waterfalls.

Bailey saw her first movie in the theater, Toy Story 3, on a rainy day.

We went gem mining.

We went swimming.

We went to the Dillard House to eat and to their petting zoo.

We went to the Cabbage Patch Hospital and to Helen, GA.

We went trout fishing. The girls were not big fans of it, especially Emma Catherine. As soon as someone caught a fish she ran far away. I actually enjoyed fishing and would have enjoyed catching more fish but we didn't want to catch too many because you paid for the fish by the pound and we don't even like to eat fish. We actually gave the fish to the people that owned the pond.

We also did some photo shoots.

Well that was definitely the most pictures I have ever put on here at one time but it was worth it to have the memories when I one day put this blog into a book.

The Tooth

2010-07-08T20:55:00.001-05:00

This week Emma Catherine lost her first tooth...at 4 years old. It was quite shocking to me and to her. On Friday night she told me her tooth was loose and I didn't even believe it until I felt it for myself. By Monday morning it was very loose. After lunch, she and her sister were fighting over a doll and she put it in her mouth. Bailey pulled the doll out and out popped the tooth. She cried because she was scared about it falling out and she said it felt weird and she didn't like it. Because she is only 4 I don't think she even knew people lost teeth or anything about the tooth fairy. All day she asked tons of questions about the tooth fairy. She didn't sleep well that night either because she was so worried about the tooth fairy. I think she was worried about someone coming into her room. She said she was scared. I felt so bad for her. Maybe next time we'll get a tooth fairy pillow or something to hang on the outside of her door. She has now adjusted to having the missing tooth and is showing everyone. The tooth beside the one she just lost is loose too. I still can't believe she already lost a tooth.

Vacation Bible School

2010-07-05T20:25:00.000-05:00

Last week we had Vacation Bible School at our church. The girls had a fun time and so did I. On Friday night the kids all sang a few songs that they learned over the week. Emma Catherine was excited to sing and Bailey wasn't so sure. At first she wanted to get off the stage but she ended up staying on the stage but not really singing.