Bainbridge Recap

The girls playing in Juj's roomUncle Matt with the girls and Alex

Me with Alex

Checking on Juju's fish, Goldie.

The girls had SO much fun playing in the pool!

Rachel and Julia sporting their bikinis...

I love Rachel's little bum in those boy shorts!

Mommy and Alex

Sweet Baby Alex

Rachel and Julia playing Juj's game,

which she calls "Drop the Beans"

(also known as "Don't spill the Beans")

Precious boy

daddy looks a little sleepy with baby boy

Juju is dancing with her special make believe friend, Minnie,

which is really a CD tower, but Juju really plays with it/her!

It was really funny watching her tote Minnie around!

How sweet...sucking his baby thumb!

Big sis, Alex and Cutie Pie

Rachel was thrilled to finally meet Juju's baby brother!

Alex is not quite as thrilled!

Rachel got a birthday present from Julia

At Dance Class

Goodbye sweet nephew! I can't wait to see you again soon!

What an eventful 48 hours! We left yesterday morning (which feels like several days ago) at 9:15 for Bainbridge. Deborah came to get Bradley at 8:45 and he was fine...he was ready to go, get in her car and watch a movie. I got emotional, so Deborah left as quickly as possible. I was glad. I knew he would be fine, but I will never be glad to see my kids leave me or me leave them. It just doesn't feel natural yet. I mean, I know when they're ready to go to college and then get married I'll feel happy that they've taken the next step in their lives, but they're still my babies, so I really prefer to have them with me! Anyway, Bradley was completely happy with Deborah and he and Nick had some father/son bonding last night and this morning, so it was good for all of us. Once Deborah and Bradley had left, Rachel and I loaded up the car. It's the LEAST amount of stuff I've ever packed for a trip. I just had a few things for Rachel, a few things for me and it all fit in ONE bag!!! I couldn't believe it! It was very smooth sailing all the way down. I didn't get lost at all and felt very comfortable driving. Of course, once we got there, I realized how tense I had been for the whole drive. My leg muscles were so tense that they were cramped and painful! I guess I kept them tight while I was driving and didn't even know it. We got to Wendy's house at 2:00, so we made it in about 5 hours after stopping twice to pee and get food. I thought that was pretty good. It was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good to see Wendy, Matt, Julia and FINALLY meet Alex! We just had such a nice, relaxing time! The girls were ecstatic to see each other and had so much fun playing together. They pretty much did their own thing. Alex was PRECIOUS and I loved holding him as much as possible! He is having some aggravating tummy pain, so it was pitiful to see him work so hard to work out the gas, but I loved trying to help. Alex is just a precious, tiny, wrinkly, soft, adorable little boy. He makes precious little baby noises and his cries are more like tiny baby shrieks. It was just so fun getting to be around a new baby again. It's amazing how quickly you forget your own new baby stuff. We spent some time in Juju's pool, which is actually a perfect size for her and Rachel. The girls had a blast doing that. We also got to see Juju's dance class. Her teacher even invited Rachel to join the class. She did for some of it, but was feeling a little shy about it. But, the dance practice was absolutely adorable and Julia was so into it all. She was a great little dancer and listener. I was impressed with the whole class and how well the teacher ran the program. We left there, came home for lunch and then got ready to leave. Then, Nana and Pop invited Julia to come back with us and spend the night with them for a few days. So, Rachel and I had BLAST driving home with Julia in the car. The girls kept each other entertained and we left at 2:00 and got home at 7:15 after stopping twice to pee and eat. So, it was a whirlwind of a trip, but it was so much fun, and so worth it! I can't wait till Wendy, Matt, Julia and Alex come up for Bradley's birthday and we're all able to spend more time together!!!

Leaving in the morning

The kids getting ready to read a bedtime story
My SWEET babies!

hugging on bub

Tomorrow's the big day...Rachel and I leave to go to Bainbridge to see Wen, Matt, Juj and baby Alex! We're so excited and can't wait to hug them all! I'm a little apprehensive about the drive, not because I think I'll get lost or anything, but just because I'll have to be totally focused and I'm the sole responsible party for the drive. Usually I sit back and relax and take care of the kids while Nick drives. But, I'm most dreading leaving my boys behind! I'm sure I'll be VERRRRRYYY sad when I have to leave Bradley with Deborah and drive off with just Rachel. I mean, I'm very excited to see Wendy, but I hate leaving my baby boy. However, I know this is the best choice since I wouldn't get to spend much time with Wendy or Alex if I had Bradley with me. He thinks he's the only one who needs my attention, and he would demand it! :) And, we're only going to be away for one night...we're coming back on Tuesday night. So, I'm sure it'll be a whirlwind, but it will be worth it! Rachel can't wait to see Juju and see her baby cousin. I'm sure I'll have lots to blog about and many pictures to post when I get back!

To Bainbridge we will go, to Bainbridge we will go,
Hi-Ho Silver-O, to Bainbridge we will go! :)

Please pray for safe travels there and back! Thanks!

MK Debut Re-cap

Deborah, mom, me, Rach and Jennifer S.

The debut was a success! I say that because it's over and because 2 people came! I don't even feel disappointed that more people didn't come. I think I would have felt a little overwhelmed if there was a huge group. It's kinda funny that most of my close friends were out of town this weekend, so they couldn't come. But, one of my close friends, Angie did come and so did one of my old friends, Kimberly, who I haven't seen in 2 years. Of course, I had the wonderful support of my mom and mother in law...they were a HUGE help and made sure the refreshments were "fresh" and were just willing to do whatever I asked of them! THANKS mom and Deb for your help, support and love!!!! And, my director, Jennifer was wonderful. She led the whole thing, so it was nice that I didn't have to do all the talking and I could learn from her by watching her in action. I even sold some products to Kimberly! Rachel was a big "help" also and a real trooper since I know she was bored throughout most of it. But, she did great either playing in her room or trying Satin Hands on her little, already smooth hands. Kimberly brought her little boy, Landon, who is just 2 months older than Bradley, and he was adorable. He played and Rachel loved watching over him and making sure he had toys and food. Bradley was asleep through most of it, which worked out well since he doesn't always enjoy sharing or watching others enjoy the limelight. So, the entire debut was casual and fun and it makes me MORE excited about continuing my MK business!

Going to see baby Alex

I'm so excited that I FINALLY get to meet my nephew, Alexander Joseph Lane! I'm driving down on Monday with Rachel. The boys are staying behind. I'll miss them dearly, but I figured that I wouldn't get much time to visit with Wendy or Alex if I had to keep up with my precious son! So, Rachel and I leave early Monday morning and we'll returen Tuesday night. It'll be short, but at least we'll finally get to talk, hug and spend some time together. I have really missed my sweet sister since she moved to Bainbridge and we can't just get together on a moment's notice. We talk several times a day, so we know what we're doing and going through, but there's something special about seeing people in person. Anyway, we can't wait to get there and squeeze our newest family member and of course, congratulate the Lanes. I'm sure I'll have LOTS of pictures to post when we get home.

MK Debut

It's on my mind and it's tomorrow. I have NO idea if anyone is coming or not. I got a few regrets, but not many. At the least, mom, Deborah and my MK director, Jennifer Slape, will be there. Que sera-sera! (Or however you spell it!) Whatever will be will be! I have to start somewhere and a debut is a fine start...even if no one shows up. I do love MK products, how they feel...what they do for my skin...so I am happy to endorse such a great product...even if I don't get to share with many tomorrow. :)

Hold for Pick up

In light of my Mary Kay debut this Sunday, I had to go to the MK distribution center today to get my order. (I placed the order too late to have it shipped to my house, so it was "held for pick up.) The dist. center is all the way in Suwanee, and on a Friday afternoon, it took forever to get there! I called Nick and asked if he would go with me and the kids and then we would go to the Mall of Ga. as a special treat. This was not exactly what he wanted to do after a long, HOT day at work, but he drove us all the way there anyway. It took us about an hour and 15 minutes to get to the Dist. center and then we waited in line for about 5 minutes, then we got in more traffic trying to get onto I-85 to get to the Mall. The mall was very crowded...apparently it's quite the hang-out spot for teens. But, it wasn't so crowded that it was unenjoyable. The kids were SO excited when they saw the Merry Go Round and they both rode a horse with Nick standing between them. It was hard to stay grumpy and tired for too long when we saw their sweet, smiling faces and heard their excitement as they rode around and around. Bradley squealed the whole time and Rachel would pat her horse on the neck, telling it to "go" and waved enthusiastically every time she passed me. (I let them ride without me...I've done it quite a few times, and sometimes it makes me a little nauseated!) We ate supper after that and then threw some pennies into the wishing fountain and played in the Kidgits playzone. We ended with a cookie from Great American Cookie Company and then headed home. We turned a rather boring, FAR travel into a great time, and I think the kids agreed. Thanks for being a good sport, hunny, and driving us all the way into forbidden land...GWINNETT COUNTY!!!

LOOOOOOOOOOOONNGG Day!

I see your hiney...all cute and shiny!

Today was a long day! It started at 6:30 because we had to go to the ENT this morning. It was a follow up to have Bradley's ears checked to see how his tubes are draining. Turns out, they're doing great...thank goodness! I wasn't sure if water was collecting in his ears or not since it's very hard to keep water completely out of his ears. Even in the tub, with vaseline covered cotton balls, Bradley still likes to lay his head back and sorta "float" in the tub. Of course, when he does this, water gets in his ears. Anyway, I was very glad to hear that the amounts are apparently small enough not to cause any damage to his tubes. We left there and went to "Old McDonald's" as Rachel sometimes calls it and played on the indoor playground and had lunch. It was so stinkin' hot, I couldn't imagine playing on an outdoor playground right now! Rachel and Bradley had so much fun playing with the handful of other kids who were already playing. It's so neat that kids make friends with other kids instantly. They don't have to know anything about each other, no names, no background, no toy preference, they just want to play. How neat to be a kid!

Next, we had to go to Kroger. We went through there as quickly as we could and then sweated to death just walking to the car to unload the groceries! We don't usually run so many errands on days when we have gymnastics, but it just worked out that the ENT appointment was today, and since we were already out and trying to reserve gas by running more than one errand on a trip, we were out longer than usual. Oh well! We were all pretty tired when we got home, but I was cutting it really close to Bradley's nap time. As it turns out, I had sorta missed the "window" where he'll willingly and easily lay down and go to sleep. He kept crying and fussing, so I went in to rock him. I had only been rocking him for about 5 minutes (and he was NOT going to sleep) when I heard Rachel crying and screaming in pain. I knew this was a serious cry, so I took Bradley into the den and Rachel was holding her eye and crying. Apparently, she was trying to do flips into the rocking chair/recliner and she somehow stumbled or missed the chair and hit the corner of her eye on the lever that releases the foot rest. It took me a long time to understand exactly how she did it. At first, she was just crying and pointing in the chair's direction. After a little while, she calmed down and told me more of what happened. She said, "I try to be gentle but I stumble and hit my eye." Anyway, thankfully, she hit to the right of her right eye instead of IN her eye. It's tender to touch and a little puffy, and I'm sure she'll have a little bruise, but thankfully, she didn't do more damage. Why do my kids have to be such monkeys!!!???? So, we all sat still and chilled out for a half hour or so until we had to leave for gymnastics. Both kids fell asleep in the car on the way there and I let Bradley take a long nap in the car while Rachel was doing gymnastics. (I was able to park at the door, keep the car running, watch Rachel take off her shoes and join her friends and then I got back in the car.) Rachel had a blast at gymnastics. Right now, it's just her, Raquel and Camryn. Those 3 girls have so much fun together! I think some more kids are moving into the class next week, so it'll be interesting to see if/how the dynamics change. Anyway, we came home, fixed and ate supper and then Nick took the kids outside with him while he weeded the garden and I cleaned the dishes. Almost every night, the kids want to get in their baby pool and splash, make a huge mess, etc... Who can blame them in this heat! But, I looked out one time and saw Bradley sitting in a huge pile of dirt in the garden, very contentedly playing and getting nasty while Nick worked. Rachel was still in the baby pool. At about 7:30, we all came in and I stripped the kids down. For some reason, maybe because they feel so free, the kids LOVE to run around NAKED! They did this for a good 10 minutes and just giggled and giggled! Running around the kitchen and den is their new favorite pasttime! Little sillies! So, I gave the kids a bath and put them to bed. I'm so tired and ready to get in bed myself! G'night!