The end of an era!

Goodbye cribs .. hello big girl beds, well toddler beds but don't tell Hassie Clare and Quinn. Why do you ask that my 30 pound, almost 3 year old little girls are still in cribs? Let me tell ya. They sleep 12 -13 hour nights and take 3 hour naps in the afternoon. Why mess with that?

We decided to make the change because we are tired of getting up at night to take Hassie Clare to the bathroom. We can't expect her to climb out of her crib, in the middle of the night, half asleep. Quinn can hold it for 15 +++ hours .... the child amazes me.

I sold them on craigslist in record time. Maybe I should have asked more for them but it covered the cost of the little white wooden toddler beds. I let the girls pick out their blanket / bedding. Quinn picked out a Tinkerbell (she was VERY VERY disappointed we did not get a Tinkerbell bed with a canopy). Hassie Clare picked out Cinderella but she really wanted Spiderman (I could not handle it in their dainty little pink and green room).

They slept great last night. Hassie Clare did not get up once to go potty. It will take awhile before she is brave enough to go potty by herself in the middle of the night but I think this is a good / safe start.

I will go ahead and admit this so that I will remember it someday. Last night I was out in the garage doing a little touch up paint work on the cribs and I had tears running down my face the entire time. I touched up the spot where their apnea monitor bags hung off the side of their crib - it rubbed away some of the white paint. I touched up the inside top bar that Quinn chewed on when she was teething. It looked like it had been infested with termites. Jamie glued one of the bars back on that Quinn kicked off with her wold legs that she likes to prop up on everything. I touched up paint where Hassie Clare had picked at chipped paint. ALL PRECIOUS MEMORIES!

As the first one pulled out of our driveway in the back of a strange white pickup truck, I could not help but pop a few more tears. It was our final goodbye to their baby years. They are big girls now and we have so many more memories to make. A crib is only a bunch of wood that they slept on for 2.11 years. Right?????? (I keep telling myself this to make it through the day:)

GOODBYE BABY NURSERY

BIG GIRL / TODDLER ROOM PICS TO FOLLOW ..... UPON COMPLETION.

Heavy Load

Have you ever just stopped and thought "wow ... everything is right with the world for me right now. I hope nothing bad happens." I think this thought ALL the time. I always feel way too lucky ... if that makes any sense.

So when things are not "all right with the world" and by world I mean my world, I carry it around on my shoulders. By the way, my world is my family and friends. Much like anyone else with a heart, it kills me to see loved ones sad .... for any reason.

My parents are both faced with health issues. In fact, as I type this, Freddie is having surgery today on his heart to find out if he has another blockage. My mom is sitting with her best friend having lunch while he lay on the operating table and she is probably acting like a rock but inside she is scared to death. On Friday, the roles will be reversed. My mom will be having a different medical procedure while Fred paces around scared to death. I wish I could be there. Neither one of them deserve this and I wish I could take their fears away.

My mother in law is taking care of her oldest sister, our beloved Aunt Barbie. She recently found out that she has very little time left on this earth. It breaks my heart to hear the pain in my mother in law's voice. I wish I could hug her. She doesn't deserve this and neither does Aunt Barbie. I wish I could take their fears away.

We pray together as a family at night before putting the girls to bed. After our normal prayers, we say special prayers for those that need it most. Hassie Clare randomly asked me the other day if Barbie was with Jesus. After the shock of hearing a 2 year old ask that question, I had a warm and confident feeling come over me as I said without a doubt "not yet, but she will be with him soon."

I delivered lunch to a friend from our twins group yesterday. Her 2.5 year old son had a freak accident and was recently moved out of ICU and into a regular hospital room. He severed his trachea after falling into a bookcase while in the church daycare. Thankfully, he will be okay. When I was walking through the children's hospital yesterday, I could not hold back the tears. This of course led to my deranged thinking "wow, I am so blessed and thankful. I have 2 healthy children. I hope nothing bad happens."

I think I need my Aura cleansed!

The Bird Lady

Tay Tay (our nanny) took the girls to the zoo today. They opened up the bird / bee exhibit. Quinn wanted no part of it but Hassie Clare has found her calling!

The title of this blog entry is somewhat of an inside joke. Hassie Clare has crazy, wild hair when it is not pulled up or combed. We sometimes call her "the bird lady" because her hair looks like a giant birds nest and her quirky personality helps add to the nickname.

Taylor takes the girls to the zoo as often as allowed. One of things I love about her adventures with the girls is that it is not all fun and games. She is constantly teaching them about whatever they are doing. Today is was about birds and bees (get your mind out of the gutter ... not the birds and the bees:)! I addition to the educational teachings, she stays on top of them when it comes to manners, being polite and social behaviour. Their "field trips" are good for everyone!

Here are some pics Taylor took with the camera on her phone:

I wish you could see her eye brows (or as they say ... bye brows) in this pic.

Quinn did not want a bird to come within 5 feet of her.

The girl with a curl ......

This is Jamie's favorite new picture of Hassie Clare. When I look at it, I crack up because all I can think about is my mom's favorite little saying (and she says it to HC A LOT!!!).

"There was a little girl,

with a little curl,

right in the middle of her forehead.

When she was good,

she was very, very good.

But when she was bad,

she was AWFUL!"

Events from my Mother's Day

After a fun but exhausting day of attending the Miracle Baby Reunion and shopping all day with my mom and the girls on Sat, I planned on a nice relaxing Sunday (aka Mother's Day). To some this might seem like I'm complaining. I can assure you I am not. I would not have changed a thing.

1) 12:30 am - we jump out of bed to the sound of our home alarm going off. Mom decided she needed something out of her car. We get the alarm turned off and reset. The girls wake up from all the commotion.
2) 4 am - Hassie Clare wakes up screaming "I'm soaked." She had an accident in her bed but it wasn't her fault. We were not on our normal schedule that day and we let her drink as much as she wanted up until 10pm!!!! Jamie cleaned her up and changed her bedding.
3) 5:10am - Quinn wakes up wanting me. Then Hassie Clare wakes up wanting me. We rocked for about 10 minutes and they were out. When they are exhausted they never sleep well. We didn't even stop long enough for them to take a nap on Sat.
4) 9am - Jamie gets up with the girls. I get to sleep in cause it is all about me today:)
5) 9:30am - The house gets very quite. I really don't care why, I just roll over and fall into a deep sleep.
6) 10:30 - I hear my moms voice calling me but I realize I'm dreaming about something really good and I really want to find out the outcome of my dream. Plus, I was in the perfect, most comfortable spot. Do you know what I mean .... when you wake up and you don't want to move an inch because your body is in the perfect position? Ignoring her didn't work. She crawled into bed with me, started rubbing my back and kissing me. I woke up ...... with a little protest.
7) 11:30 - Jamie and the girls return from the store and Jamie makes mom and I breakfast in bed (mushroom, onion, bell pepper, cheese omelet).
8) 1:30 - Kiss my folks good bye as they leave for Arkansas and we head out to Garden Ridge to look for a couple concrete planters for the front yard. We didn't find the planters but I found some really cute summer / beach hats.
9) 4:30 - Randomly picked somewhere new and different to eat for dinner. We decided on Molly's on Overton Square since we were close.
10) 8pm - Tucked the girls into bed, grabbed a Drumstick ice cream out of the freezer and curled up in bed with Jamie to watch TV (Bride Wars and Law & Order SVU). Jamie made it about 2.3 minutes before falling asleep.

A Mother's Day letter to my little girls

Dear Hassie Clare and Quinn,
Being your mother is a dream come true for me. I think God every day that he made me your mommy. The love I have for you fills every particle of my existence.

There was a time when I wasn't sure if I would ever be a mom and get to celebrate Mother's Day. Because of you, I get to celebrate being a mother everyday. Some days are challenging but I even count those days as great because at the end of the day, I get to hold you, I get to hug and kiss you and I get to tell you how much I love you.

Hassie Clare - I love your free spirit. I love how you are like no one else I have every known. You are quirky, unique and full of personality. I love how you demand multiple hugs and kisses from me every time I'm leaving a room. I love how you tuck your head up under my chin and curl your tiny body up on my chest. I love when something catches you by surprise and you laugh out loud. You have the sweetest laugh and it makes everyone around you laugh. I love how giving you are and how well you share with others. I love how you sit in the floor with your legs straight out in front of you and read books all by yourself - it makes me smile every time. I love your peppy attitude and how you say "go for it." I love your crazy, curly wild hair. I love the way you look in my eyes when you give me kisses. I love the fact that no matter how much people will try and change you, you will always be just you. I want you to know that you are the best thing that has ever happened to me.

Quinnie - You are the most sensitive, loving child I have every known. You are already a nurturer and caretaker. I love your sweet little high-pitched voice. I love the way you look just like your daddy one minute and me the other. I love how you get so excited about new toys, especially baby dolls. I love how gentle you are with babies, animals, toys. I love how loyal you are, even as a 2 year old. I love how you belly laugh at your sister for no reason. I love how you wrap your arm around our neck when you snuggle. I love how you grab my face when you give me kisses. I love how you lean over to rub noses with me for no reason. I love how passionate you are about food:) I love how you say "I love you disco" when I tell you I love you more. I love how innocent you are. I want you to know that you are the best thing that has ever happened to me.

Being your mother is the thing I am most thankful for in this world. I love being your mommy. I am proud to be you mommy. I love that every morning I get that excited feeling in my stomach right when I wake up because I realize that I get to be your mom all over again that day.

Thank you for a wonderful Mother's Day. It was just a "normal" day but it is a reminder of how very grateful I am to be your mother.

I love you both more then you will ever know,
Mommy

PS - I realize I'm very sappy and if you read this during your teenage years you will think your mother is a total cornball. But give it a few more years and hopefully you will start to understand a mother's love ..... that is IF you decide you want to be a mother. I'm not pushing anything ... I promise:)

Big C's 65th birthday weekend

I was so thankful that I got to spend the weekend with my mom on her birthday. Thanks for sharing her Freddie!

We started the day off (4/25) by packing up the girls and heading out to Bounce to jump around and act silly with other members of our Multiples Group. After an exhausting hour and half, we hit a few a little shops and then decided to grab some lunch. My mom will use any excuse to eat Chinese, Japanese or Vietnamese food. In an attempt to make it feel like it was her special day, I gave in to the Vietnamese food. She would have preferred a Chinese buffet but I had to draw the line somewhere:)

Going to the grocery store, or any store for that matter, with my mother is an experience all in itself. I dash into a store, get what I need and get out. My mother is not capable of this no matter what her reasoning is for going into store. I needed to run into Kroger to get a few things for her birthday dinner I was cooking for everyone that night. I managed to get a full weeks of groceries (one full basket) in the time it took her to go down the toy / holiday isle!!!!!! By the time I took everything out to the car, loaded the girls in ... she was finished checking out and walked out of the store with a few bags. DRIVES ME NUTS but it is also one of the things I love about her. In those few bags were goodies she thought we would enjoy and toys for the grand babies:)

Uncle Dave, Jenny, Jack and Josie came over for dinner and cake. We missed the rest of the family but had a good time.

I wonder who switched the 65 to 56 ... hhuummmmm.

My mother is so special to me. She is so many things to me other then a mother. I look forward to talking to her every day. She makes me laugh like no one in the world can. I'm talking about those laugh out loud, full belly laughs and it is usually over the silliest of things. As a mother, I can't imagine not having her praise, love and wisdom to grab onto while I'm raising my children. I feel so lucky and thankful to have her in my life. I would be lost without her.

Stuff

I have been sick with an ear infection and sinus infection, which has all drained into my chest for the past week. It is nice to be back amongst the living. Thankfully, I have the best husband in the world that held the fort down while I was out of commission. Of course I complained to him about how he didn’t do things the “right way” (and by “right way” I mean “my way”) but I have to complain about something….right? He took it like a man and still loved and cared for me as if I wasn’t a nagging hag. Man I love that guy!!!!!

Before I got sick, we babysat Isabella, one of my best friend's little girl. She is so flippin sweet and the girls love her. Quinn asked me if her mommy got her at Target cause that is where she gets all her baby dolls!

Let me tell you about our sweet little kitty Onyx (Taylor and the girls gave her that name because she was jet black as a kitten and we already have a Ruby .... have ya caught on to the jewel theme yet:) Last Aug, we had some friends over and we were sitting out by the play yard letting the kids play and we hear this little tiny meow coming from underneath the Muddingers barn, which backs up to our play yard. A few mins later this itty bitty black kitten comes crawling out. I bet she weighed 4 or 5 ozs. We didn't think she would live and if she did, we figured the foxes would get her. We have lived here 7 years and have never seen a cat because of the foxes. Well, obviously by the pics below she survived against all odds and managed to get knocked up. I am not a cat person but I must admit, I love this cat! She is so sweet and loving. Never asks for anything. Very laid back and doesn't even mind Ruby harassing her. About a week before she pooped out 2 kittens we noticed she looked a little fat and we feared the worst. On Sunday night she was acting strange and then on Monday I didn't see her anywhere. On Tues morning I went out to Jamie / Onyx's garage and she came running down the steps. I loved on her a little bit and then she took off back up the steps. She stopped and looked at me as if she was saying "come up here and look what I did." Jamie made a bed for her upstairs next to a heater. Thankfully she had the kittens in her bed. Today they are 2 weeks old and their eyes are almost all the way open. Onyx is such a good momma, especially for being so young herself. We think she is about 8 or 9 months old.

Hassie Clare’s first black eye given to her by her sister…..accidentally….. or so the story goes. HC was running from a bumble bee and ran into the back of Quinn’s head while she was swinging on the swing. I never got a great pic of her eye. It looked worse in person.

Taylor takes the girls to the zoo every chance she gets. They all have a great time. The family membership with the nanny pass we purchased paid for itself it 3 visits. I bet we have been 6 or 7 times this year so far.

The girls and I usually wait for Jamie to get home on the front porch. He loves to take them exploring in the yard once he gets home and this gives me time to get dinner ready. Quinn loves wild flowers (aka weeds) and HC loves rocks, gumballs and sticks. They both hate anything that crawls, flys or slithers, Jamie included.

They are getting pretty good at riding their tricycles. I might want to rethink letting them ride on the porch before Hassie Clare decides to do bike tricks down the brick steps!

Funny comments of the week

I'm sure every parent experiences this with their toddler but OMG ... the stuff that comes out of their mouth keeps us in stitches. Let me preface what I'm about to type with a little explanation. The girls are petrified of mold, mainly black flaky mold. About 6 months ago I was going through their bath toys and at the bottom of the basket there was a squirt toy and when I squirted it in the bathtub mold came shooting out (I promise I usually keep their bathroom and bath toys clean ... it was just one of those things). Of course I screamed, the girls reacted on my reaction so needless to say, they think mold is like the bubonic plaque or something.

Here is a conversation between Quinn and my mom last weekend while she is rocking her:

Quinn: "I see your nickle Nana." Referring to a large brown mole on my moms chest that is visible in the shirt she is wearing. Remember Quinn calls nipples ..... nickles.
Nana: "That is not my nipple baby that is a mole."
Quinn frantically jumps out of my moms lap and screams "I don't like mold Nana."
My mom and I laughed for an hour.

Here are some other funny things they said this morning:

Both of them say "the early day" instead of the "the other day."
They say Chicalay instead of Chick Fila.
Quinn says "yeah" after everything she says. Like she is from Wisconsin near the Canadian boarder. Ever see the movie Fargo? She says it in a very sweet voice almost as if she is convincing herself of something. So flippin cute.
Here is a statement from this morning:
"Mommy, are we going to Chicalay with Tay Tay like we did the early day? Yeah Yeah. We went the early day. Yeah Yeah."

When I took them to the doctor last week, we encouraged the girls to tell Dr. Lacy that they use the big girl potty. So they told him they use the potty and wear big girl panties. At that point, Hassie Clare lifted up her little sundress, pulled down her bloomers and said "look, I'm wearing Princess Jasmine panties." The girl has no modesty. Not sure where she gets that from:)

Going back in time ...

I really, really, really want to go back in time to when the girls were about 3 months old and hold them. Just for one day (really 2 days - 1 day for with Hassie Clare and 1 day with Quinn). I want to hold them, smell them, feed them from my body and squeeze them as tight as I can without hurting them. I will even settle for 1 hour.

As a mother, I have enjoyed every stage of their life. I've cherished every milestone, every sweet memory that my brain will retain. But for the life of me, I can't remember the first 6 months of my children's lives. Was it amnesia caused by exhaustion? Did I hit my head?

I have bits and pieces of memories but nothing solid. I can't remember what it felt like to hold either one of them when they weighed 5 pounds, 10 pounds, 15 pounds. When I am away from them for any length of time, their weight on my body is what I miss the most. Silly I know. But as soon as I pick them up and hold them tight, all seems right with the world. So why can't I remember that feeling when they were brand new?

The first 6 months is such a blur. Jamie and I were both back to working full time. I worked from home. We had a lot of help, especially from my mom and mother-in-law. Jamie and I worked in shifts at night. I would take the 10-2:30 shift and he would take the 2:30-6 and then he would have to leave for work. We went to the doctor all the time. Various specialist for various reasons caused by prematurity. This is when I would dress the girls up in the really cute outfits people bought them. The logistics of going out in public was tough because a) there was two of them b) they were each hooked up to their own apnea monitor that had lots of wires and c) we could not let people touch them out of fear of getting them sick. We could not take the girls anywhere but to doctor appointments because it was RSV season. This is a potentially deadly disease to premature babies. So we kept them isolated from the world until they were about 9 months old. Then we were lucky enough that our insurance plan picked up the outrageously expensive (about $2000 per shot if I recall correctly) RSV shot. The shot is given every 3 months during RSV season and our insurance paid for it for 2 years.

Anyway, I'm getting way off topic here. My point is that time is going by too fast for me. I need to slow down. I'm starting to realize that once the day is over, I can never get that day back again. I need to "stop and REALLY smell the roses" instead of "stopping to look at the rose, have a brief thought in my head that the rose is pretty, snapping a photo of it and quickly moving on to something else." I have a feeling that with time, a lot of the memories of special moments I have with my girls will start to fade, or be replaced with new special moments. Maybe I should just be thankful that I'm one of the lucky ones that get to experience this unbelievable ride called motherhood.

Photo of the first time I got to hold them both at the same time when they were still in the NICU. The total weight of both of them is 8 pounds 13 ounces. They were 9 days old. Our favorite nurse took the pic.

So, I took Hassie Clare to the doctor this morning because she has had a runny nose and serious eye issues for 7 days. I was thinking it was just allergies ... everyone and their brother is having problems right now. Her little eyes are matted shut every morning. It looks like something out of a horror movie after she wakes up. After 5 min. of a warm rag and a little rubbing she can get them open. Dr. Lacy seems to think that it is conjunctivitis and not allergies because they are not itchy. He also thinks she has sinusitis going on. Long story short, another 5-7 days of antibiotic eye drops and a round of antibiotics.

We have a $20 co-pay so if I have an appointment for one of the girls I usually bring the other one along just to get a "free" check of her ears. Dr. Lacy has twins also so he understands. Quinn is not having any problems but for giggles I asked the doc to peek in her ears. Low and behold she has a freakin ear infection. Never in a million of years would I have guessed Quinn has an infection in her ear. Up until 6 weeks ago, she has NEVER had one. This is the same ear that was infected about 6 weeks ago so we get another week of antibiotics and a re-check in 7 days.

On a more positive note, we have 2 new itty bitty additions to the family. I'll post about that later:)

For the second time in 2 years and 9 months, Hassie Clare and Quinn had an overnight stay without us! Jenny and Umple Dave (this is how they say it) graciously kept the girls for us on Sat night so that we could enjoy a nice evening at a friends wedding and get a peaceful nights rest. IT WAS HEAVEN! Jamie and I both looked at each other Sun morning and said "Wow ... it feels like we have had a vacation .... now let's go get our kids." It is amazing how recharged you can feel with just a little break. It makes it even more refreshing when you know you children are in great hands. Aunt Jenny and Uncle Dave are the girl's Godparents and Aunt / Uncle. So we figure they are bound to them by God and blood:) They have so much fun at their house playing with their cousin's stuff. Aunt Jenny always does something special for them when they come over. She ordered pizza this time cause she knows how much the girls love to chow on pizza. I'm so thankful that my kids have cousins to grow up with and an Aunt and Uncle that love them so dearly. My parents moved here when we were young leaving all of our extended family in Cali so we never got to know any of our cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc. Luckily Jamie and I love hanging out with my brother and sister in law, so that makes "family time" that much better! Did I mention we are all going to the beach together in few months .... YAHOO!

Easter Festivities

On the Thur. before Easter the girl's Mother's Day Out Program had an Easter Egg Hunt. Jamie took the morning off work to help hide eggs and spend the morning with them at school. The girls were so excited to have him there ... I think they kind of liked showing off their cool daddy!

"I love cupcakes with sprinkers!" Instead of saying sprinkles, they both say sprinkers.

Quinnie lining up for the hunt.

"Look what I found Kenny Ray."

This was my favorite part, watching Jamie on the indoor playground with all the 2 year olds. They loved him! They chased him like he was a Rock Star. The picture does not do the noise volume nor the "cuteness" justice of all the kids chasing him around. They climbed on him, pulled on his shirt and begged for more. It was adorable and I'm almost positive that he loved every min of it!!! I think I might start renting him out for birthday parties???

On Sat my folks came into town and we headed up to the church for Easter games, crafts and another egg hunt. We had a blast. Notice Hassie Clare's tongue when she is concentrating on something. We think she has Michael Jordan Syndrome.





Sat night we colored Easter eggs and prepared for the Easter Bunny's arrival.

Jamie, Aunt Amy and the girls.

The girls thought the Easter Bunny might get hungry so we left her some celery, grass and the Easter Bunny's favorite ... an ice cold Bud Light Lime.

Hassie Clare could have cared less about the stuff in her Easter Basket. All she wanted to do was throw the Easter grass in the air and sit in her basket.

Paw Paw watching Jamie and the girls figure out an Easter toy.

Quinnie loved the baby she got. It can swim all by itself but she won't let us put batteries in the doll. She named it April.

Despite pink eye, we had a fantastic holiday. Easter is my mom's favorite holiday and she always has a way of making it special. Having Paw Paw and Aunt Amy here for the weekend was an added bonus!

Guess what the Easter Bunny brought us?

PINK EYE! Yes ... that is right folks .... pink eye for the Thurman twins. Much to my surprise, it didn't seem to bother them one bit. I noticed Quinn's eye was a little red and irritated on Fri evening but didn't think much of it. Her allergies were going nuts so I just thought she might have a little cold in her right eye.

We got up Sat morning and headed up to the church Easter Egg hunt. They had an hour of fun filled children's activities prior to the hunt. We played games, did crafts, listened to an Easter story and enjoyed the other 200 other pre-school aged children that were there also. Nana, Paw Paw and Amy went with us. The weather was perfect! We decided to grab an early lunch afterwards on the patio at Mcallisters. Here is a pic from Jamie's phone (notice Quinn's eye looking a little swollen and red ... again .... I'm just thinking it is allergies):

After lunch mom and I dropped the crew off at the house and headed out for an afternoon of shopping. We had a great time as always. My mom has a way of making me laugh like no one else can. I also appreciate her brutally honest opinions while shopping. **Note to self ... never take her bathing suit shopping with me!**

We returned to the house 6 hours later. I walked into the kitchen to my two little ones playing on the kitchen floor. They smiled and looked up at me and my heart sank. Both of them had flaming pink eyes with goo dripping from them. I immediately called the after hours doc office and they called in some antibiotic eye drops. Within 20 mins they had their first round of eye drops!

The Thurman household has been on lock down since Sat afternoon and I must say, it is not near as bad as I thought it would be. Yes, we missed going to my brother and sister in law's house for Easter dinner but they sent us over a bag full of "some lovin from the oven." In fact, I'm nibbling on a piece of Lemonade Pie as I type this!

Pictures do not do the girls justice on just how pitiful they looked! Here are a few pics where you can see their right eyes just don't look right.

The thought of putting 2 eye drops in two years olds eyes, 4 times a day sounds like a nightmare to me. BUT. Quinn puts up a little bit of a fight by clinching her eyelids shut. Sometimes I think I need the jaws of life to prey them open. However, when I tell her it is time for eye medicine she hops in my lap. Hassie Clare has got to be the only 2 year old that just lays there with her eyes open and lets me put 2 drops in each eye. I think she even looks forward to it! As I've always said, Hassie Clare walks to the beat of her own drum. She is in no way "normal" and I hope she never will be!

I'll do a big blog entry about all of our fun Easter festivities BPE (before pink eye).

Tikes & Trikes

In a neighboring town, the local skating rink closes down on Wed. mornings and welcomes pre-school aged kids to bring their tricycles, walkers, scooters, etc. I decided to play hookie from work for a couple hours and Taylor and I packed up the kids and headed to Collierville. It was the first pretty day in a while so the place was empty, except for the ladies from the playgroup that we were meeting. The girls loved doing the Hokey Pokey (I have video of it but I haven't figured out the easiest way to load video onto the blog). They also have an indoor play area with slides, tunnels and such. They girls had a blast and I really enjoyed having a care free morning just playing the girls.

Hassie Clare making a quick getaway with someone Else's bike.

Is it just me or does Quinn look 12 in this photo? STOP GROWING UP SO FAST!!!

They both really liked this little radio flyer bike that didn't have petals... I think they were getting ready to scrap in this pic!

Tay Tay and the bike stealing twins (neither of these bikes are ours:)!

Hammer Time

Our very dear friends, Benji and Paige Hammer traveled down from Missouri last weekend to spend it with us. They have two daughters, Morgan will be 6 this month and Jenna just turned 3. They also have one on the way that is due July 2. Benji and Jamie have been the best of friends since their freshman year in high school. Benji is one of our girls Godfather. Benji and Paige started dating the same year we did (1999), we all got married the same year (2002), we both have 2 girls ..... as you can imagine, we have a lot in common. Having so much in common is not what makes us such good friends, that is just the icing on the cake. Maybe we have been close from the start because we wanted the same things out of life, have the same goals and expectations. Whatever the reasons, I'm just thankful to have them in our lives.

"Mom, we are having breakfast with our girlfriends and it's way too early in the day for pictures."

Hassie Clare and Quinn are in love with Morgan and Jenna. They had so much fun with them this weekend. Paige was nice enough to keep the little ones at the house while me, Jamie, Benji and Morgan went to the Cardinal v. Redbirds game on Sat. in downtown Memphis. The weather was exceptional, our seats were awesome (courtesy of the Hammer's), the BBQ nachos were yummy and the beer was ice cold. It was the PERFECT ballgame!

Morgan, me, Jenna, Quinn and Hassie Clare before we left for the game.

After the game, we went home to gather the rest of our gang and headed for our local Japanese Steakhouse. The kids love the atmosphere and the adults love the food. We always do lots of fun stuff when we get together but my favorite part of every weekend we spend with the Hammers is when we are all just sitting around "chewing the fat."

As always, the weekend went by way too fast but we are very thankful for the time we get to spend with our dear friends. I know that we will always be a part of each others lives. It is very cool to watch our kids run around together and become friends. I hope as adults, our children have friends that they respect and love the way we do the Hammer's.

Here are some pics from the weekend (FYI - for some reason, I only took a couple of pics this weekend and I didn't take my camera with me to the game. I guess that is what happens when you are having too much fun to worry about capturing memories on film)!

Playing outside with Benji.


The new love of Quinn's life..... a doll Morgan left for her. Morgan is such a sweet and sensitive soul. She could see that Quinn loved the doll and she wanted her to keep it ... amazing for an "almost" 6 year old. Quinn named the doll "Blackie" because of all the black marks on her head and body. The band aides are covering strawberries on each of Quinnie's knees. She was taking Blackie for a walk down the driveway and tripped.