Not so Friendly Skies

It's official....I don't like flying with kids. There I said it. Two days after Christmas, I loaded up the girls to head back to Marietta. Paul had left the day before because ZBB was going out for a few shows and he had to be back the day after Christmas. Chad drove me to the airport and both girls were quiet and happy watching the Lion King on the way. We drove up to the airport, and Maysie puked....everywhere. All over herself, all over Caden's carseat and I am sure all over Chad's car. Awesome. I pulled her out of the car and quickly undressed her. Better to be naked in 45 degree weather than to sit in puke clothes right? Then changed her into the first thing I could find in the suitcase, which was one of her shirts and a pair of Railey's pants. She looked like a homeless child with no shoes and clothes that didn't match or fit. We finally went into the airport so we could catch the plane. Disclaimer...at this point, I felt confident it was motion sickness....Maysie had never been forward facing in a carseat and I think that, combined with watching a movie, did her in. Turns out I was right and it wasn't a bug....thank god. Most people (except Chad) would think that I was lucky that it happened before our flight in the car rather than on the plane. I would agree. The flight went fairly well. Maysie was restless but nothing out of the ordinary. We were thirty minutes away from Atlanta and the plane started getting a little turbulent. Railey turned to me and said, "Mommy, I don't feel good." ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!? I tried to distract her while holding Maysie in one hand and a puke bag in the other. Ten minutes passed...all good. Then she told me she had to throw up. I handed my homeless looking second child to the lady sitting across from me and turned to Railey just in time to catch ALL of her throw up in the bag. Disgusting. By the time I turned back to Maysie, she was sleeping in the arms of the sweet stranger and Railey was happy again telling me that she was thirsty. We packed up our things and headed off the plane to go home. And this is why i don't like flying with kids.....

Christmas Time

Since Ansley had baby #2 last month, Paul and I decided to pack up the girls and head to Texas to celebrate Christmas this year. Needless to say, I have a whole new respect for people that have no choice but to fly every year. Poppy picked us up from the airport and little Maysie couldn't contain her excitement. She tried to get his attention, and suceeded in doing so, the entire 45 minute drive to Ansley and Chad's house...which would have been fine if he wasn't driving. Railey was obsessed with her new cousin Chance and held him every minute that we would let her.

Chance is an ANGEL! He barely cried and slept almost the entire time we were there....

Maysie loved her new cousin too...kisses the whole time we were there.

Christmas pajamas from Tutu and Poppy!

Poppy sat with the kids to eat dinner and lunch....every single time they ate. Thanks dad:)

Christmas Eve came and we loaded up three cars to go to church. Railey and Chance got to sit up front for the entire service and once we got home, it was time to get ready for Santa. We sprinkled reindeer food outside, set out cookies for Santa, sprinkled baby powder so we could see where Santa walked, and, of course, did a little snuggling with Poppy

After the kids FINALLY fell asleep, Santa came and filled stockings

Ate cookies

Left presents

And we even saw his footprints where he stepped out of the chimney and peeked into the kids rooms....

The aftermath....horrible picture quality but I had to include

Caden and Railey were so proud of their new slippers picked out by yours truly. Saw them on a commercial, Railey freaked out, and I ordered three pair in less than two minutes.... (Notice Maysie in the background in Chances' baby swing. Obsessed)

Group shots....I get an A plus plus this year.

Merry Christmas Y'all!

Mt Bethel Christmas Program

Railey's Christmas program was the cutest thing! The kids processed through the church to their seats while waving to their parents. When it was time for the program to start, the marjority of the parents (including me) had their camcorders ready to go....a few even were holding their IPads up to record....what a difference a year makes:) Since I was recording the video from my camera, I only got a few shots. I think that we have a little performer on our hands....

Doing her best impression of Tim Tebow

Taking a bow

5 Things I Love...

Have I mentioned how much I love living in Marietta?  Although the list of things I love changes on a weekly basis, here are some of my favorites....

1) Dobbins Air Force Base is in Marietta so the jets constantly fly over our house.  It reminds me of Captain...he would have loved to sit on our back deck and try to tell me what kind of plane it was
2) Signs EVERYWHERE, in people's front yards, cars, and almost every business, saying "GO RAIDERS!"  Walton High School (the school that Railey and Maysie will go to) is competing in the State Champoinship game.  Although I have no idea when this game is going to happen, I know that in 10 short years, I will be one of the people with a sign in my front yard:)
3) Our neighbors!!!  They have been so amazing.  We have spent time with four of the families in our neighborhood and love them.  Between these four families, there are 11 kids....three of them are going to be in Kindergarten next year with Railey
4) Railey's new school
5) Our house.  Now that we are getting more settled in, it truly feels like home now.  And I will never move again. 

What a Week

The past week has been a blur.  Mix one sick 18 month old with a crazy mom who is trying to get everything pulled together for Christmas and you have disaster.  Little Maysie got a bug, or either food poisoning, and had the worst diaper rash I have ever seen on a child.  She was screaming at the top of her lungs when I would try to put ointment on her or put her in the bath and waking up 2-3 times a night.  Day three, I had enough.  So I called Aunt Coco (aka Internet Researcher Extraordinaire) and she had just been through this with Little D.  Lots of advice was given, the most important being that I needed to take Maysie's diaper off and let the rash dry up.  Done and done.  She woke up the next morning, I put her in the bath and took her downstairs, sans diaper, to drink on Pedialyte and wait for big sister to make her appearance.  Things were so calm, and Maysie was playing with the dogs.  Thats when I noticed it.  I took my eyes off of her for FIVE MINUTES and she had managed to go to the bathroom 4 times....marking her territory from one side of the kitchen to the other. 

So mama disinfected and the diaper is back on.  Now to find some more surefire ways to get rid of diaper rash.....

Mountain Time

Mountain trip with some of my favorite girls...

Oh Christmas Tree

Every Sunday after Thanksgiving, we head out to the Brown's to celebrate with the ZBB family.  Everybody brings a side dish and about 200 people join in another Thanksgiving feast.  It is the perfect way to begin the holiday season.  Before we go to the big party, we stop by the Christmas tree farm to pick out the perfect tree for our house.  This year, we decided to get a smaller tree so we can put it in the front living room, this way it won't get "Maysie'd."

This farm does it right!  Pony rides, hayrides and even Santa is there to greet you.  Our first Santa encounter went well, at least for Railey.  Little Sara Mays doesn't quite know what to think and opted to wave from afar.  Not going to push it....I don't want to ruin it when we go to Phipps next week.

After we bought our tree (and a few wreaths for me) we went to get a ride on the pony.  Of course, Mama forgot her camera so the IPhone pictures will have to do.

Railey insisted that Sara Mays sit on the horse with her

After loaded up our tree, we pulled up to the Brown's and wouldn't you know it, four horses were waiting to give the kids (and adults) rides. Railey spent 90% of the party on the horses. Thanks Jean:)

Now to start holiday planning!

Railey's New Friend Siri

My new IPhone has definitely been a hit....and I think that little Railey loves it even more than I do. Everytime we get in the car, she asks to hold my phone so she and Siri can chat. The only problem is, Siri has a hard time understanding the language of a four year old. Here are some of my favorites:

• What do you look like? Siri: I don't know what you mean by One Gary lark fly
• Do you have your own dogs that you can bring over because our dogs are pretty jumpy?
• Will you come over and play?
• Can we talk to each other right now or no because you are at work?
• I really want to see your daughter
• You're silly

I just may have found a new babysitter....

Question of the Day

Every day at school, Railey's teachers ask her the question of the day when she walks into the classroom. Once she decides her answer, she has to take a clothes pin and put it either on yes or no. Today, I walked her into school and noticed that all of the other clothes pins were already on yes. Being nosy, I waited to hear the question. Miss Sue: Railey, have you ever helped your parents rake the yard? Railey quickly took her clothes pin and put it on no. So, I decided that I would have to fix this immediately and came home to start on some yard work so that Railey could help me finish up after school. I cranked up the blower and proceeded to blow all of the leaves from our front yard into a pile...a BIG pile. Before she could start her work, Railey decided to play in the leaves. I got my camera out thinking that she would jump in the leaf pile, throw them around and I might get some cute pictures. In true Railey style, she walked up to the pile (did I mention is was enormous?), stood at the edge and fell face first...loving every minute of it.

To make the day even more fun, our neighbor Colette came out to join us.

Twenty bags of leaves later, mission accomplished.

Let's just hope that tomorrow's question is, "Have you ever played in a pile of leaves"

Happy Birthday Bailey!

Paul is on the road and I got an email from him that it was Bailey's birthday. So of course Railey, Maysie and I went to the pet store to buy doggie cupcakes, party hats and dog bones so we can celebrate accordingly.

And what birthday party would be complete without inviting some friends over to sing Happy Birthday and join in the fun!

Happy 9th Birthday Bailey! We love you!!!!

Sweet, Salty, Dairy or Fruit

This is Railey's snack week and I received a letter to send something sweet, something salty, a fruit or dairy. Okay, I can handle this. I have to come up with the perfect snack that all of the kids will enjoy. Then I read on. Bring three of the four items listed...there are 16 children in the class plus two teachers. OH LAWD! Who do they think I am? Martha Stewart? So I came up with some cute ideas with the help of my mother, went to the grocery store to buy all of the ingredients for snack for 18 people for the entire week. Sometimes, I impress myself:) We made blueberry muffins, sent in cookie cutters to make Halloween cheese cutouts, yogurt, fruit, and my personal favorite on Halloween, spider snacks made of ritz crackers, squirt cheese, and raisins.

Boo!

For our first Halloween in our new house, we decided to round up some of the kids and take them trick or treating around the neighborhood. We loaded two Rapunzels, Anakin Skywalker, a flower and Yoda up the back of Hop's truck, redneck style. Safety first!

Snuggled up in the blanket...HELLO FALL!

By the end of the night, we had five tired kids with more Halloween candy than you can imagine. Bring on Thanksgiving and Christmas....I love this time of year!