Tsige

Tsige is Railey's nanny that comes three days a week on the days that Railey doesn't go to school. Now that she is getting older, I am quickly realizing that Railey is the boss on the days that Tsige comes over. Yesterday, I walked downstairs (from my office in the attic) to find Railey still in her pajamas, ballerina costume over, rain boots on, hair a COMPLETE mess, with one of her spinning toys tangled in her hair.

I guess that if every child needs balance in their life, then Tsige is the perfect nanny to compliment my personality!

Time with Daddy

Paul always seems to be a bit vague when I ask him what he and Railey have done during their "daddy/daughter" time. This past week, Paul was taking Railey while my six month pregnant self went to celebrate Mary Heather's bachelorette party. As I was heading out the door, I finally realized that it would be close to impossible for Paul to explain even half of the things that he and Railey have done on a given day. The pictures say it all....

Needless to say, Mommy needs to step it up when it comes to creativity....how in the world can I compete with taking Bella for a walk with her motorized golf cart?!?!?

Little Miss Manners

From the time that Railey has been three months old, I have always bragged on what a great sleeper she is. Lately, despite her still being a great sleeper, she sometimes just isn't tired enough to take a nap.

Six months ago when this happened we had an unfortunate incident with her playing in her diaper (I will not go into details), and a couple of weeks ago she decided to finger paint her walls with desitin. At least her nap playtimes are becoming less destructive with time.

Yesterday, on hour into her naptime, I heard her call my name. When I went into the room she had pulled EVERYTHING out of her closet into her bedroom. Shoes, blankets, dirty clothes, sheets, etc. I put her into her bed and decided that I would see if she could fall asleep and just deal with it later.

One hour later, I went in to wake her up and asked her what she had done to her closet. She sat up in bed, looked at the mess, and said "thank you mommy." I said, "thank you for what?" She then said, "thank you for letting me play with my toys."

What can I say to that? They obviously weren't toys but she already knows how to get her way out of being in trouble.

Just one month shy of her third birthday I finally figured out the power of bribing rewarding Railey for good behavior. For one week straight, I told Railey that if she was a good girl, I would take her to the fire station. She was an ANGEL and on Saturday morning, we left on our adventure.

Two fire stations





And one long train later



I think that Railey has learned she needs to listen to her momma

Road Trip!

Today, we leave for Memphis to go and visit my aunt and cousins. This is especially exciting for Railey because that means we are going to see Baby Caden, Baby Hadley and Sara Britton. I got the morning off since Paul is staying home but here are a few things I that happened while I was packing this morning:

Railey: Mommy, I need a bag for my toys
Me: Okay Railey, but you can only pack 4 books and 3 dolls. Sara Britton and Hadley have a bunch of toys for us to play with

Two minutes later the bag is full with so many toys (most of which she hasn't played with in one year) and she says she is ready. I decided to let it go, not worth the fight this morning. But about five minutes later I heard Paul say, "Oh Railey, you know what toy you forgot?"

REALLY PAUL?!?!?! So much for packing light:)

Railey has been singing Oh Susana for about 30 minutes now. Every time we talk about visiting Auntley she sings, "Going to AlabaNa with a banjo on my knee"

Aunt Cathy will be here at 11:00 when we will go and pick Railey up from school then head to Birmingham...Are we there yet?

Good Morning TIme!

I used to dread waking up in the morning. That is....before I had Railey. Believe me, I am nowhere close to being a morning person but I guess that I just got used to waking up and Railey is really fun to wake up to.

Of course, each and every morning is different, but this is how this morning went. As I was sleeping soundly at 7:00 a.m., I heard Railey scream at the top of her lungs MOMMY! Now Railey can REALLY scream so this would alarm most people....unfortunately, this is the way that she has to get my attention because I still have the child proof lock on her door (does that make me a bad person?)

Once I finally rolled out of bed and went into her bedroom she asked the same question she does every morning, it good morning time mommy? I said yes and then she proceeded to tell me she tee teed in her diaper (still wearing diapers when she is sleeping which is a necessity due to a mean mommy who still has the child proof lock:)) and then we came out of her room to start our day.

Today was rushed because we go to school on Monday AND we were bringing snack for her school. I asked the teacher if we could bring in donut holes so Railey and I left the house about 8:30 to go to Dunkin Donuts. Today I realized just how easy Railey has gotten to be out in public. She got out of the car, held my hand until we got inside, and waited patiently while I ordered 50 donut holes (the class finished ALL of them.) I decided to get her a sprinkle donut to eat on the way to school...no better time to pump her full of sugar right before she goes to see Miss Michelle and Miss Becky! To make an ordinary morning with my little girl even more perfect, she looked at the cashier at Dunkin Donuts and gave her most heartfelt "tank you!" when she handed her the bag with her donut.

God I love my spunky, polite little princess!