About Me

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Welcome to my blog. I'm a Mississippi country girl transplanted to Grapevine, TX. I have been blessed with a great husband, and my kiddos, Aleck and Ella. When I'm not eating bon bons on the couch, I am my kid's room mom, PTA member, Sunday School teacher, taxi driver, amateur photographer and personal chef. When I'm not doing those things, I'm running a small jewelry business, 2nd Amendment Jewelry (www.2ndamendmentjewelry.com), that I started with my twin sister, Glenda. It's a crazy and busy life, but I wouldn't trade it for anything in this world. I am so thankful for all the blessings in my life!

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Sunday Afternoon Picnic

We discovered a great park in Colleyville that has a wooded walking trail that winds around several ponds and this is Aleck's new favorite place to play.  Ella got to swing for the first time.  At first, she wasn't too sure about the swing, but with time she decided it was loads of fun.  We packed a picnic and ate dinner at the pavilion.  Aleck made some new friends on the playground.  He was absolutely adorable when he decided that he was going to pretend he was a monster.  He spent the rest of the time running around "roaring" at total strangers, including adults, and would run away, chuckling at the response he got.  Absolutely adorable.


Saturday, April 10, 2010

Gardening with Mommy


Since Ella was born, Aleck rarely gets time alone with Mommy.  Today was our special day.  Tom and Ella spent the morning inside, while Aleck and I worked in the yard weeding the beds.  I thought I wouldn't get much done because I would have to keep him out of the street, but he didn't leave my side.  Aleck was in heaven having my undivided attention.  We hunted for earthworms and roly polys.  Aleck liked the worms, but didn't want to touch them.  He would let the roly poly crawl on his hand and squeal "it tickles".  Being a mommy means seeing the world all over again through the curious eyes of a child.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

9 months old





Ella Bella, you are nine months old today. You have had a developmental explosion. You started crawling on all fours on Aleck's birthday, and now you are so fast I put you down and you are gone before I can turn around. You pull to stand on everything, and have even been able to take a few steps sideways holding Aleck's train table. You love the train table and any time I put you down, you make a bee line to Aleck's room to play with his toys. So it seems that my keeping Ella out of Aleck's room has already begun.

I heard a crash this week and I found you laying under the garbage can, with garbage all over you and scattered around the floor. You weren't crying, you were just laying there with a puzzled look on your face. It was hilarious and disgusting, all at the same time. The garbage can is now behind closed doors in the laundry room.

During meals, you take the spoon out of my hand and feed yourself and give the spoon back when it is empty as if to say, "more, Mom". You are starting to eat more table food and less baby food. You seem to like new food textures. You are nursing four times a day, first thing in the morning, before morning and afternoon naps, and at bedtime.

You still nap twice a day, but some days your morning nap is 11:00 or later. On those days, you usually skip your afternoon nap but go to bed earlier. Most nights, you sleep through the night and wake around 7:30 a.m. You wake up happy and are content in your crib for a little while before we come get you. When we walk in your room in the morning, you grin ear to ear and are so happy to see us. I hope I never forget the look of your smiling face in the morning.

Aleck was a stomach sleeper at this age, but you prefer your back. You stretch your arms over your head. You sleep best when you are zipped up in your sleep sack.

You love music and are already showing a love for percussion instruments. You love to beat on pans and boxes. When Daddy practices his drums, you bounce back and forth, keeping rhythm with the music.

You still love the jumper that suspends from the doorway, but I think you will soon outgrow it. As soon as you started crawling, you decided that you hated your exersaucer because you can't explore your world when you are stuck in one place.

You smile ear to ear when we play with your talking baby doll. Your favorite toys right now are Aleck's train table and his McDonald's play kitchen. Most days, Aleck is an awesome big brother and likes it when you play in his room. However, there are days that he still gets jealous and wants my undivided attention.

You have so many adorable dresses, but aren't able to wear them because they get in the way when you crawl. You are wearing 9 month cloths, but can still fit into some 6 month outfits. We are currently taking a break from cloth diapers because there just aren't enough hours in the day for me to catch up on laundry. You seem so petite compared to Aleck at this age. Even though you are growing so fast, I love that you are still small enough to feel like a baby to me.

You babble "mamamamama", but mostly "dadadadada". I think you are beginning to realize that I am "mamamama" and Daddy is "dadadada".

You like to look at books that have different textures and you rub the book and help turn pages.

At this age, Aleck absolutely fought diaper changes with all his might, but you don't seem to mind them as long as you have a toy to play with.

You still like your pacifier, though not as much as you did before your terrible ear infection last month. Before the infection, you had your pacifier much of the day, but now you mostly just want it when you are tired or sleeping.
Your hair is getting lighter. Your beautiful blue eyes have a lighter color in the center of the iris and that brightness makes your eyes sparkle when you smile. I think your iris color may change from blue to hazel, like both Mommy and Daddy's eyes.

You are such an amazing blessing in our life. I cherish each and every day with you, my little Ella Bella.

Fort Worth Botanical Gardens

We picnicked at the Botanical Gardens today.  Ella wore her Easter dress, the same Easter dress I wore 39 years ago.  I can still remember putting that little blue handmade dress in my hope chest wondering if I would ever have a little girl to wear it.  Thank you, Lord, for these two blessings.