swimming

we have turned a corner with ella- she is now a SWIMMER! we have been fighting with her all summer to take a dip in the pool- but as soon as she would see the water she would start freaking out- screaming- and repeating herself over and over "i no wanna swim" so- to avoid me losing it with her- we have avoided swimming pools. now don't get me wrong- it's not all water that she didn't like- just the water that she couldn't control getting into and out of- example- at the beach the ocean was just too big for her to handle, but the tide pools were perfect- perfect depth, size, and temperature. but... the big pool at warriors path state park- was too big- she couldn't get in on her own, she couldn't get out on her own, she couldn't touch, etc. but today- i decide that it isn't fair to punish fisher (the golden swimmer) for ella's issues with water. so i take them to warriors path (they have a baby pool too) with a neighbor (jenn and emmie)

and she gets into the pool with floats on her arms and a dolphin boat. fisher just wears the floats on the arms. he can touch the bottom (so of course so can ella) and he is all over the place. his face goes under a million time and he comes up laughing and coughing up water. i was so proud of him-- then ella tells me that she can take off her floats. so- i let her and she continues to jump around the pool wearing this boat that looks ridiculous because she can touch and it comes down well below her butt- then by the grace of God- she tells me that she doesn't want to wear her boat! what? yeah!!!! she runs in the pool, jumps, and the entire trip let not one tear loose! i now have a swimmer! thank you God!

have a great day!

house guests from alabama

we had our houseguests from alabama visit this past weekend- one word- wonderful! (i would add easy to it too!) john, lacey, jb, and chappy the bulldog all came up for a visit- everyone was great and it was so nice to have a six month old around the house for a little extra excitement! jb is a doll and it was the first time that we were all meeting him- they are such easy houseguest and chappy was fun for bubba and gracie. it made lots of sense to ella to let bubba and gracie have friends over too! we went to dinner one night, a johnson city baseball game the next, and then had our usual saturday night- cookout/cornhole tournament. all the neighbors came out and the food was fantastic! the alabama crew fit right in!

first steps, tears, and eagles

well... here are a few pictures of fishers first steps-- oh... walker- texas ranger- he is doing really well making it from room to room- it's so cute to see him come around a corner laughing the whole time- i swear he is thinking "this is soooo much better than crawling!"

then the tears came from one simple thing- i took my cell phone away from him- did you ever see such a face???? i don't have tons of pictures of him crying- plenty of his sister-- but this face over a cell phone! just what will happen when there is a serious issue????

ah- the eagles- backstory- we went to dollywood with chris' parents a couple months ago- she wouldn't ride anything (big surprise) it rained the entire time- great fun- however there was an eagle exhibit- she sat with ma and pa for about 30 minutes looking at all the eagles- so- we now know how to fly like an eagle-

the lorax

my very favorite book from childhood is "the lorax" by dr. seuss-- read it in elementary school and haven't ever been able to forget it- and now since ella and fisher are really into dr. seuss books i purchased the lorax for them. on the cover was a listing about earth day 2008 and to join the lorax project.

now for those who don't know about the lorax, he was a small man type thing, he spoke for the trees- for the trees have no tongues. the oncler came and cut down all the truffula tress and makes theeds- (following this) anyway, the factories made too much smog and gunk that all the animals had to leave their home with the truffula trees. (it's a bit sad) but at the end of the story the oncler gives a boy the very last truffula seed and tells him to take care of it- because "unless someone cares a whole awful lot, things aren't going to get better- they're not"
well join the lorax project with me-- http://theloraxproject.com/ and lets try and make things better-- have a great day!http://lorax.conservation.org/downloads/lorax_stickersandtags.pdf

oops... bubba and gracie

i forgot to mention my better behaved children- bubba and gracie-





gracie is our first- she is about 6 1/2 and just a good ol' mutt. she has gained a bit of weight since we had the real kids, but still will chase a tennis ball for hours on end. i found her when she was only six weeks and gave up everything to keep her. roommate, apartment, good friend and even a fight with my soon to be mother in law over keeping her... but i am so glad that i did. she taught chris and i how to take care of something... and about loving forever. she was an awful puppy... but has grown into quite a lady. i couldn't imagine our lives without her. she is tolerant of the kids and loves ella and everything about her. never has she chewed up a toy- or acted jealous of the kids. she will sleep in ella's room if she can sneak in fast enough. fisher climbs, pulls, and pokes- but never has she been upset... i think that she actually likes the attention.





bubba- he is my dog version of fisher- or fisher is my human version of bubba (not sure which way to put it). bubba is quiet, loving, and always around. he is my first "momma's boy" and will forever remain that way. he must sleep on my side of the bed, he listens to me- not chris. :) he is such a protector too- i couldn't travel with the kids or let chris travel and leave me here without having bubba. we adopted him when he was six weeks- not knowing that we were going to end up with a 115 lb pitbull (his cage was marked boxer/?) he is the biggest dog that chris or i have ever owned... but he is calm- relaxed- and to me a true gentleman. he doesn't let any stranger come close to the kids- while i was pregnant with ella and fisher- the only way he would sleep was with his head resting on my belly- since... he has become the "sheriff" of the house and neighborhood- he loves to keep the peace in the house- he too has always tolerated and wanted to be in the same room as the kids- ella climbs, fisher climbs, laying on bubba is like laying on a pillow- he won't ever disrupt a baby laying on him- he is the best kisser too!

prepping for the weekend

the calm before the next storm-- (not really a storm) we are having our neices- laura and elaina- in for a visit with chris' parents today. then from the great state of alabama... john, lacey, jb, and chappy will be visiting from thursday until sunday- we are pumped about both sets of visitors coming- we really love having company and friends staying with us! bubba and gracie are pretty excited too! i will post some pictures later of all the fun with the family and friends-

and before i forget- fisher has a new name-- WALKER- texas ranger-- he has been going from room to room walking instead of crawling- (he has been walking 10-15 steps at a time) so last night we were laughing saying he was such a great walker... and then naturally "texas ranger" followed! i forgot what a process it is to go from crawling to walking- and how long it takes to become a "good walker" he has been manuvering around for a month playing with the idea of walking... last night and this morning he showed a preference to walking! maybe now my back will be saved from carrying that haus around all the time!

so... we are really excited about all the changes that are coming in the near future with the two of them walking around the house... it will be like having a real boy in the house! (he has still been a baby till now) i think that we will get the baby bug again soon now that he is on the move!

fisher

fisher- oh, where to begin!? he is so much fun- i have been telling people- that ella wears me out mentally- fisher wears me out physically- on any given evening- i am exhausted! fisher is big- he was born big (9lbs 3oz) and has continued to stay big- and now that he is totally mobile (crawling and walking) he is super strong! most of the time he is smiling and happy- he is very busy and stays on top of everything that ella is doing. he has been a very easy baby as far as temperment- if he is fussy- he is sleepy- a nap will always cure fisher's bad moods. we have been very lucky to have such an amazing BOY. he is all boy- loves the ladies and loves a crowd. his birthday party (the big one) had a whopping 45 people attend. it was a blast and he loved every second of the attention. i don't think that i saw one tear from him all evening!

ella

okay-- little about ella---

ella is getting close to three-- (cannot believe i just typed the word three) and is so funny! she is a talker like her momma and daddy- there is only one time throughout the day that ella is quiet- when she is sleeping-- that is it! she talks all the time about everything! we read a book titled "the digging-est dog" and in it there is a line "duke- you've been bad- you've made me mad instead of glad"-- whenever ella is in trouble- she pulls out this line and changes it to "Momma- you've made me sad instead of GLAD!"- then she is promptly sent to time-out ( so mean i know) she has a best friend- aly grace (she lives next door) and they spend lots of time together- they could probably do the overnight thing- but i'm not ready for that!

she is amazing- smart, funny, and remembers everything! she has recently starting climbing- on me and chris- we have turned into trees. i stay covered in bruises from where her little toes slipping on my legs and arms. we love having the ella news broadcast during dinner- just her update on all things ella!

Hello Everyone!

hello out there! i never thought that i would be one to do this- you know blog- but living away from friends and family i've decided to give it a go. plus, i NEVER get to talk on the phone now- as soon as i pick up the phone i hear "momma, who ya' talkin' to? momma, why did ya say ewwww?, momma, i wanna talk" i just can't stand it anymore! so here-- if you want to know what is going on with me, us, the kids-- here you go! one more reason too-- i never started those true blue "baby books" i would do them for a couple of months or try to do a years worth in a night and it never happen-- but i am good at taking pictures- i just made an entire book of pictures only for fisher's first year- but i thought that i would be able to keep track of the kids and the funny little things that they do through this- worth a try huh?

that being said- the kids are both asleep after a bit of a difficult day- since the week o' parties for fisher's first birthday and the massive amount of cake that they have been eating-- they just need to crash! and stay there for a good 24 hours. so- i need to catch up on emails, phone calls, laundry, and tv shows- but all i really want to do is take a nap. sad huh?

i don't really know what to talk about on this- but for those checking in on us--- we have been so busy since kelsey's wedding plans got into full swing- (it's all over now) but whew- what a crazy (but fun) time- we were in roanoke bunches (which is nice for me) and i love getting to see my mom and dad play with the kids- and being with my sister is always a blast! i got to see lots of family through the months of may, june, and july- kels had two showers, jarron graduated from high school, and then the wedding- plus factor in a beach trip, 4th of july, and fisher's first birthday and it was so busy of a time- but what do we do now with a lul in activity???? create more! we have some new neighbors from CANADA-- now i know that isn't very far away-- but baby, we've gone international! haha- they are really fun- they have a little girl that is 51/2 months- so here soon fisher won't have to always play with ella and aly grace!

we have been really lucky since we've moved to tennessee (2 1/2 years ago) we have made lots and lots of new friends, and chris and i have been able to reestablish some from high school (for him) and some from college and working down here (for me)... we were able to invite tons of people to fisher's first birthday and that was great for us! we were really proud of the tree of friends that we have created! (not having family super close is hard)

i have been staying home since i had ella-- chris is wonderful about supporting me and our family for me to stay home. i think that for us it's the best decision that we could have made. i want to go back to work once fisher is in preschool- so-- it gives me some time to really have fun with the kids! i have been working some- i have been auditing pharmaceutical companies since we lived in kentucky- but i don't have a 9-5.