Our Crazy Busy Life

I thought I would post some of the things that go on in our daily life. Unless you want to hear our daily routine, I suggest you just scroll down to the 3rd paragraph. I wrote the following 2 paragraphs mostly for my benefit.

William just started his first semester of clinical rotations. He is spending the next two months learning the ropes at Baptist Memphis. He has so far gotten to intubate someone. I thought that was exciting. Monday is his study day. Tuesday he has class in Jackson, TN. And Wed-Fri. he shadows Anesthesiologists at the Hospital. He'll probably be spending most of Saturday studying, and then Sunday at church and with our family. Even though William is very busy with school, he is at the dinner table with us every night! That's been SO nice, and I'm expecially grateful for this since we worked nights for two years before going back to school.

Maylen, Adeline, and I have Monday together all day. Tuesday we go to Bible study at Independent. The girls get to go to the nursery, and often afterward we go to lunch with friends from the group. On Wednesday the girls go to MDO while I work on my business and occationally run errands. On Thursday I have an excercise class, and once a month I go to my smocking circle. Then before lunch Maylen has ballet and tap. Friday the girls have MDO, and I use the time to monogram and work. Saturday I usually try to catch up on household chores and run errands. Even thougth we have a lot of time out in the morning, most every afternoon I bring the girls home to rest. Most days Adeline takes great naps, and Maylen has "room time". I use the afternoons to catch up on calls or sewing for my business, or work on my Bible study, blog, or use facebook. Whew! that's a lot of running around and busyness. But again, I'm so glad that we have dinner together every night, time at the house together every evening, and we're all sleeping under the same roof at night. I feel like I have a lot to be grateful for!

The girls just seem to grow so fast. I had to write a few things that they say because they are so funny I want to remember them. There is a lot of DRAMA at our house! Two girls -- twice the drama. haha. Adeline has recently learned the expression "very, very" which she uses to emphasis her expressions. One of William and my favorites is this. . .
Adeline: "funder is berry, berry mean, but wan is berry berry nice!
English translation: thunder is very, very mean, but rain is very, very nice!
Meaning: she doesn't like thunder becasue it scares her, but she like rain.

Here is example of Maylen's drama.
"Adeline's not sharing with me. She's never, ever going to let me play with that toy again!"
Translation: I feel like I've been waiting forever for her to share, and since she hasn't already, she may never share that toy with me.

Here is an example of Maylen's brilliant mind (which keeps me on my toes).
The other day I told the girls that William was at the hospital learning anesthesia. Maylen remarked about how that sounded like a lot like Anastasia. I responded that they sound just alike, but are two different things. She questioned what I meant. I tried to explain in child's terms what anesthesia is, and that Anastasia is the girl's name in the movie. Maylen then corrected me and said that I shouldn't say that they sound just alike. Because they don't sound alike, but that I should say they sound similar. Wow! I started laughing because I felt like I was having a conversation with William. She get's that from him for sure! I don't know if I'll be able to keep up with her.

September and Many New Beginnings

This has been a very busy month for us--and we're barely half way in. The girls started Mother's Day Out Sept. 3. They are attending 2 days a week, and so far they both love it. This is Maylen's last year to attend MDO. I can't believe she'll be old enough for kindergarten next year (sniff, sniff). I'm glad that the girls are at the same place this year.


We took this picture a few days ago. This is the last picture we got of Adeline in her crib before moving her into her big girl bed. I can't believe that I took the crib down for the first time in 4 1/2 years.


Adeline is so proud of her "princess bed"-- it sounds so much more exciting when we call it that. She is sleeping in the daybed that I had when I was little. She seems to really enjoy her bed-- she looks like a princess all cuddled up under the covers. I think this picture makes her look bigger already (sniff, sniff).


Maylen came home from MDO and said that she wanted to take ballet with Ava, one of her friends from school. As it turns out, there are 3 little girls from Maylen's class that are taking ballet and tap together. So I signed Maylen up, and we went to try on ballet and tap shoes. As soon as I had the laces tied, she stood up and started tapping across the floor. I started laughing because I was surprised that she knew exactly what to do.
Today was her first day of dance lessons. She was SO excited. Since Monday she had been counting down the days. When I picked her up she showed me some of the steps she had learned. She said that tap was her favorite because she likes the way that the tap shoes sound.

Smocking for my beautiful girls

I love to smock for the girls. There are so many reasons that I love it. I love the look of smocked clothing; it's a fun and relaxing project; I love having the creative outlet. But the best part of smocking for the girls is the way they respond to the clothes that I make for them. I involve them in the process by letting them pick out colors they like, or I allow them to pick out the plate that I am going to smock. Maylen especially acts so grateful for the dresses and will proudly tell others that, "Mommy made this dress for me". How rewarding to hear my little girls get excited about wearing the clothes that I make for them. So, I wanted to post some pictures of the girls in their clothes before they outgrow them.

I smocked these dresses for the girls this spring. There are bright pink, purple, yellow, and green ladybugs smocked across the bishops.


I made this dress for Maylen last spring, but I hadn't taken a picture of her in it. I love that they can wear bishops for a while. She was picking flowers out of the flower bed before we left for church.


Adeline is wearing a blue bishop with little white lambs smocked across the front. I made this for Maylen when she was 12 months old. I can't believe that they have both gotten two summers out of this dress!


The weather was so nice that we were outside enjoying the weather before we left for church.


The turquoise dress that Maylen is wearing has fish swimming on the front. I made it this summer for her. Adeline's outfit has butterflies; I also made this one for Maylen a few years ago and now it fits Adeline. I'm glad that they appreciate hand-me-downs at this age.



Two too cute cheeks!


Can you tell I love them?!

Destin Beach Vacation

We went to the beach in mid-Aug. with my side of the family. I didn't have my camera on the beach so I'll have to post those pictures later. But I did get a couple great pictures of the girls in white linen dresses on the beach.


The cousins looked cute on the beach together, too.


Adeline became much more comfortable in the pool with her floaty bathing suit. She was swimming all over the pool without being held by the end of the week. Both girls loved playing in the sand, the pool, and the ocean. They were both scared of the ocean at first because of the waves, but both became comfortable once they were being held in the water. They enjoyed riding the waves with the excepting of getting saltwater in their eyes and mouth when a large wave would come along. But as the week went on the waves became calmer, and that was less intimidating. Maylen and Adeline were troopers about staying up way past their normal bedtime, and they certainly enjoying the attention they got from their aunt and grandparents.
William wasn't able to be at the beach the whole week because he had to be back at school. So he flew to Memphis and then flew back to the beach at the end of the week. We miss him being at the beach with us. The sweetest thing was when William came back, Maylen said to him, "we missed you, Daddy! We wanted you!" I know he savored those words for a long time.

Sunflowers and Sweet Girls

I made the girls their play dresses earlier this week with intentions of them wearing them this fall. But when I passed the sunflower patch earlier this week, I thought that the dresses would be perfect for some pictures in front of the sunflower patch. Here are a few of the pictures that I took.

My Three Monkeys!

Here are my three monkeys horsing around -- a typical past-time between the three of them. It's also a great picture for those of you who haven't see the shirtless William in a while. These days are few and far between that he goes without the shirt. Oh, and I guess this is the first post that I have of William since he cut his hair. I think it's a good look for him.

July Events

It has been a long time since I have blogged. We have had a lot going on as a family, and I haven't really had the time to blog. Maylen and Adeline were both sick the first week in July, we had "4th" celebrations, birthday parties, Vacation Bible School, I've been sewing, William's been studying etc. Oh, and we also celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary! So here are a few pictures that capture some of these events.

I took Maylen with me to the 4th of July celebration (on June 30) at Bellevue. But Adeline stayed home with her Daddy taking care of her.

I took both of the girls along with their cousins, Julia and Sam, to the 4th of July celebration and fireworks in Germantown. Here is a picture that Maylen was reluctant to be in -- she either wants to be in photos or doesn't and there is no cooperation when she doesn't.

Maylen and Adeline playing together before leaving for the fireworks show. Maylen was in the mood for photos here!
We had a birthday party for "Deedad" on July 5th. We had Bar-B-Q and watermelon which the girls loved! Here is a picture of Adeline enjoying some watermelon.


Adeline's silly face.

Maylen's silly face.

Here is Maylen eating some birthday cake. My little girls love to eat!

My dad's birthday is on July 6th. Here is a photo of everyone being "tricked" by the trick candle on his cake. It's funny to see the surprise on everyones faces.

I taught Vacation Bible School to Maylen's age group-- the 4 year olds. This was her first year to get to go to VBS. The theme was the Wild West. I borrowed this hat, and when Adeline put it on I thought that she looked a bit like "Yosemite Sam."

We decorated the room to look like a western farm, and had our Bible story time in the corral.

I thought that I would add this picture. The girls were watching a movie together. It think it's so sweet how they enjoy each others company.

I made Maylen's dress. The pattern is "Frannie" by Children's Corner. I thought it turned out so cute and was a quick sew. I'll definitely be using this pattern again.

Well, that's our month of July in a nut-shell. I hope to be more consistent with journaling in the coming months.