DYKSTERHOUSE NEWS

Happy 3rd Birthday Mary Laine!

2012-01-03T19:51:00.000-08:00

I think that it's safe to say that Mary Laine is a fan of birthdays. This is the first year that she has really understood what is going on and has gotten excited about all of the celebration.

We got a pose on her last night as a 2 year old:

We started the day out with a big breakfast. She had strawberries and Rice Krispies (which you'll see later are two of her favorite foods) along with some of our homemade Christmas Cinnamon Rolls:

Then we opened some presents:

We went swimming with Aunt Su-Su:

We ate lunch at one of our new favorite spots:

We did each other's nails (pink and purple, of course!):

After naps and an afternoon of playing, we went to celebrate at the Japanese Steakhouse:

And we ended the night watching a princess movie:

I know several people who ask their children the same questions on each of their birthdays and see how the answers change every year - great idea! So, I've combined two that I've seen. Here are Mary Laine's answers at the age of three. (For the first set, she focused mostly on things that were actually in the room that she could see):

I AM... Mary Laine
I WAS... beautiful
I HAVE... princess toys
I PLAY... in my tent
I WORRY... about Daddy
I KNOW... the tunnel
I WATCH... TV
I WANT... to eat
I CRAVE... strawberries
I USUALLY... play
I REMEMBER... Mama
I DISLIKE... bad things
I GO... swimming
I WENT... to play golf
I CAN... swing
I DON'T... know
I FEEL... sick
I DANCE... to "Scooby Dooby Doo"
I READ... books
I WRITE... notes
I BELIEVE... Mama
I AM SCARED... "I don't know"
I LISTEN... quietly
I WISH... "I don't know"
I LOVE... Mama
I AM HAPPY... when I play in the tent and the tunnel
I AM THANKFUL... for Mama

What is your favorite color? Pink and purple
What is your favorite toy? balls
What is your favorite fruit? strawberries
What is your favorite TV show? Signing Time, Toy Story, Dora and Super Why
What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches
What is your favorite outfit? Pajamas
What is your favorite game? Tic-Tac-Toe
What is your favorite snack? Honey Bunny Grahams
What is your favorite animal? Giraffes
What is your favorite song? I've Been Working on the Railroad
What is your favorite book? Cinderella
Who is your best friend? Daddy
What is your favorite cereal? Rice Krispies
What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play ball
What is your favorite drink? Orange Juice
What is your favorite holiday? Thanksgiving
What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Books and Baby "Mary Laine"
What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Strawberries
What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich
What do you want to be when you grow up? A Big Girl!

Some of these answers were definitely a surprise (and I think that I'd have gotten a different answer had I asked at another time), but these are the answers that came from her, so I'm going with them. It's hard to believe that it's been three years since this picture was taken:

Mary Laine, we love you more than you can know!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Happy Birthday Aunt Su-Su!

2011-12-30T18:04:00.000-08:00

We haven't made a birthday video in awhile, but had a special request for this one:

Merry Christmas!!

2011-12-25T20:29:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve (Day 24)

2011-12-24T19:41:00.000-08:00

"Read the Christmas Story"

(forgot to take a picture of the card)

Advent Day 23

2011-12-23T20:52:00.000-08:00

Mary Laine requested purple icing - I think it's a hit!

Advent Day 22

2011-12-22T19:28:00.000-08:00

Advent Day 21

2011-12-21T18:38:00.001-08:00

Advent Day 20

2011-12-20T21:07:00.000-08:00

Look, Mom! I can walk!!

Advent Day 19

2011-12-19T19:04:00.000-08:00

Advent Day 18

2011-12-18T18:25:00.001-08:00

Gifts

2011-12-17T19:46:00.000-08:00

This is the first year that Mary Laine has really gotten into gift-giving. She requested to pick out the presents for her friends and wanted to put the bags together herself (she did need a little help from Mom). As we struggle daily with not wanting to share, taking things out of Langdon's hands, and immediately deciding that she has to have the very thing that Langdon has just set his sights on, it is nice to get a small glimpse of a generous heart!

Advent Day 17

2011-12-17T19:37:00.000-08:00

Advent Day 16

2011-12-17T05:32:00.000-08:00

Advent Day 15

2011-12-15T12:49:00.000-08:00

This was a last minute change to our original plans. Since we've had a stomach bug, I didn't think that baking and delivering Christmas cookies would be appreciated by either the givers or the receivers. So, we made it a day filled with things that

Mary Laine loves most.

Advent Day 14

2011-12-15T06:39:00.000-08:00

Yes, we're still sick. Poor thing passed out on the couch after a long morning. Her daddy says that she has great form, though!

Advent Day 13

2011-12-13T14:17:00.001-08:00

plus we added in storytime with Santa at the Museum of the Mississippi Delta

We'll actually be delivering the gifts next week...

Mary Laine was just told that she may NOT have a red-rider bb gun...

she'll shoot her eye out! She was not too pleased with that response.

Funny, Feelings, Family and Fame

2011-12-13T13:37:00.000-08:00

Funny

When Langdon was sick a few days ago, Mimi and Papa invited Mary Laine over to spend the day with them. They were eating lunch and Mary Laine started bossily telling everybody what their rolls were going to be in her little play. (This is a very regular occurence these days). She said that she was Dora, Mimi was boots, and Papa was a monkey. Papa then said, "If I'm a monkey, then I'm gonna jump on the bed." Mary Laine proceeded to say, "3 little monkeys jumping on the bed. One fell off and.... Oh little playmate, come out and play with me." She then looked at her Mimi and Papa and said, "This music is broken. It needs new batteries!" She continues to find new ways to get us to laugh.

Feelings

The next morning, Mary Laine was sitting in the family room watching TV. After Langdon finished his breakfast, I put him down in the family room to play while I cleaned up. He immediately went after one of Mary Laine's new toys. Mary Laine looked right at him and shouted, "LANGDON!" I stood there ready to break up a fight over the toy that she hadn't even noticed until her brother grabbed it, but then she caught me completely off-guard. She continued, "Langdon, I've missed you!!" and went to give him a hug. I love the bond that those two share.

Family

It has been years since we've gotten to spend alot of time with Aunt Su-Su. Since she's gone to college, she doesn't come home for long, and when she does, she usually divides her time between family and friends. Imagine our delight when we found out that we will get to spend nearly a month with her! Mary Laine had so much fun playing with her last night that she didn't want to go to sleep! (And Uncle Wa-Wa will be home in a few days - we can't wait to see him too!)

Mary Laine was so excited that I couldn't get her to sit still long enough for me to get a cute posed shot

Fame

I hope that you've all had a chance to see The Help. Didn't you just love the scene that I was in??? What?? You missed me?!? Well, thanks to modern technology, I can extend my 15 seconds of fame. Here is my grand Hollywood debut:

What was that? You still missed me? I guess I can help you out a little more:

Yes, that is me in the room behind the window in the house hidden by trees across the street from the scene that is taking place. How do I know that I was there during that moment? Well, I'm glad that you asked:

Unfortunately, I put my camera down during this exact shot, but this was one of the days that I was able to be around for the filming of the entire scene. I'm still a little confused as to why my name didn't appear in the credits, though!

Advent Day 12

2011-12-13T12:48:00.000-08:00

Advent Day 11

2011-12-11T20:47:00.001-08:00

Oh no! It's the stomach bug that would not go away!! I was regretting the late-night snack (see the post for Day 10) as it all came back up in the wee hours of the morning. We will be seeing a doctor about this horrible illness that has descended on our house. While it is a little sad that we aren't able to fully appreciate all of our Advent activities, finding Nix and reading our cards has given us a little something to look forward to in the midst of the sickness and boredom.

Mary Laine found Nix, but wasn't in the mood to pose for a picture this morning.

After a little R&R, Mary Laine opened our card to see what our activity would be for the day. Thankfully, the first part fit right into our recent activities:

CHRISTMAS PJs!!

We had to improvise a bit on the second part. Since we obviously weren't going anywhere, we watched the Radio City Christmas Spectacular on TV instead. We had to fast-forward through most of it due to time constraints, but loved the gospel-story at the end. And Mary Laine loved watching the dancers!! I am hoping to let Mary Laine go back and watch more of it later...

Advent Day 10

2011-12-11T20:32:00.001-08:00

Well, there was a slight change in plans. Gary is now sick, too, so Mimi and Papa came to the rescue. They whisked Mary Laine away for a day of fun so that I could give my full attention to the sick boys. After alot of playing, they rented the movie Tangled and ate popcorn.

When she got home that night, though, she said that she was hungry, so I caved and let her eat a snack and watch another movie - this is the one that I had planned on our family watching together (if you can't see it, it's How the Grinch Stole Christmas):

Can you tell that having sickness around the house for a few weeks is spoiling my children?!?

Advent Day 9

2011-12-09T20:28:00.000-08:00

So, this activity didn't go at all as I had envisioned it. First, all of our neighbors ended up being out of town (I did give them a heads up a few days ago, but will probably not schedule this on a weekend next year). Then, we ended up going out of town today and didn't have time to bake the homemade Christmas cookies that I had planned to serve. So Mary Laine and Daddy headed to the store for slice and bake (not that I'm knocking slice and bake - I think that they are delicious!). Finally, on the way home from our little trip, Langdon got sick... again... So I was actually relieved that we didn't have to worry about having alot of people over with a sick baby. We did invite Mimi and Papa to join us, though, so that we could have someone over for cookies and hot chocolate.

Advent Day 8

2011-12-09T06:32:00.001-08:00

Advent Day 7

2011-12-08T11:45:00.001-08:00

Watching the SNOW coming down - yes, it snowed yesterday! Too bad it didn't stick!

The Food Pantry was actually closed yesterday, so we had to divide this activity into two parts: we shopped yesterday and delivered today.

Advent Day 6

2011-12-06T19:07:00.000-08:00

Since Langdon is a still a little under the weather and I had to go to a meeting, Mary Laine got a special night out with Mimi and Papa. In Mary Laine's words, "We went to eat at a RESTAURANT and then hear the Singing Christmas Tree". Although, due to inclement weather, it wasn't an actual "tree" this year. Still one of my favorite Greenwood Christmas traditions!

Advent Day 5

2011-12-06T05:43:00.001-08:00

Let me just note that we have had the stomach bug... for about two weeks! It has passed through every family member, and some have had it twice! So, not than a mother of toddlers really ever needs to explain why her family is always in pajamas and sweats (because that is really acceptable at all times in my book), but that is my excuse for the moment...

Advent Day 4

2011-12-04T13:40:00.000-08:00

Advent Day 3

2011-12-03T18:51:00.001-08:00

Advent Day 2

2011-12-02T18:31:00.001-08:00

We found Nix hiding in the Christmas tree:

Then we opened our new card for the day:

Although we had been invited to several parade parties, we decided to just hang out at Mimi and Papa's house since we have been a little under the weather. The parade this year did not disappoint. The weather was perfect and the bands and floats were great. The theme this year was Christmas movies. Mary Laine's favorite was How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Santa Claus, of course. Mine was a tie between Christmas Vacation and The Polar Express. Both kids were just mesmerized by the entire parade and sat perfectly still for about an hour as we watched. Daddy, Mimi, and Papa had a prior engagement, so they missed the parade, but made it in time for the fire works.

We attempted to get a Christmas Card picture. This is what you will not be getting in the mail from us this year. We actually were able to get Langdon to look at the camera, but Mary Laine would not smile. Oh, well. We'll get a good picture one of these days - or I'll figure out how to make use of my photoshop.

At the end of the night, Mary Laine was so tired that she asked to go straight to bed without dinner and even passed on the prospect of eating french fries (one of her favorite foods). I'd say that's a sign of a full day!

Advent

2011-12-02T05:42:00.001-08:00

What an exciting time of year. There is so much excitement and anticipation! I love all of the lights and color. This year, Mary Laine is finally old enough to appreciate some of the anticipation of the Advent Season - I have been telling her that Jesus' birthday is coming up and we spend the whole month preparing for that.

So, thanks to Pinterest, I decided to make an Advent calendar that would have an activity for us to do each day.

Yesterday, Mary Laine got to open the first card:

So, we decorated the Christmas Tree (we actually did this the night before, since I knew that we would have such a busy day on the first):

Went to the Lighting of the Courthouse (sorry, no pictures from that).

Added in my friend Robin's book signing for her first book:

And, as an added bonus, we could see the outside screening of the movie from the back porch of the bookstore. So, Mary Laine and I were able to cuddle up on the couch under a blanket while we watched:

Poor Langdon was sick with the stomach bug, so he and Daddy had to stay home and miss all of the festivities. But, since it was Deacon's birthday, there was plenty of celebrating to be done at home:

Finally, we started the tradition of the "Elf on the Shelf". Thanks Aunt Cindy! We have named our elf "Nix". Mary Laine was so nervous to look for him the first day - I think that she was expecting to find a life-sized elf who was actually alive. Now that she has seen that there is nothing to fear, she is really warming up to Nix:

Happy Advent Season and Happy 4th Birthday Deacon Dog!!

November Happenings

2011-11-29T04:57:00.000-08:00

November was pretty quiet around the Dyksterhouse. We didn't have much going on until the week of Thanksgiving.

We played with friends:

Made smores when it got cold outside:

Played basketball while practicing our lion roar:

Played in the most fun toy ever - a box!:

Started climbing stairs:

And just looked cute:

(First nightgown!)

One day, I had to run into CVS to grab a few things and Mary Laine saw this Snoopy. I truly think that she could have stayed there for an hour talking to that snoopy. She even asked me if I would take her picture with him:

We got to (briefly) see Aunt Su-Su. She came into town the night before we left. But we'll take any time that we can get!!

We spent our Thanksgiving in Charlotte with the Dyksterhouse clan. Of course, we had to make a stop in Atlanta on the way to meet precious baby Collin:

Unfortunately, Langdon chose this particular week to decide that he really wasn't interested in anybody but Mama! He would fuss even if I put him down on the ground next to me to play. There were a few brief moments when he forgot that I left him and we caught a smile, but there weren't many. He really does love you, Uncle Phillip, I promise!

Mary Laine was so excited to see her cousins! The night before we left for our trip, she came up to me and said, "Mama, I have 'ouncement'. That's a fancy way of saying that I'm excited to see my cousins!".

Mary Laine and Gabby

Playing on Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Kate's big hill

Reading with Popop

Langdon couldn't figure out if he was happy or sad

A happy moment

On Thanksgiving morning, we went out to the Turkey Trot to run an 8K...

...did I fool you for even a second?!? No, we slept in a little and cheered Uncle Andy and Aunt Kelly across the finish line. Then Mary Laine ran her very first race - the Tot Trot:

Go Uncle Andy!

While I held a fussy Langdon, Payton kept Mary Laine company

Go Mary Laine!!

Sadly, we didn't get many pictures of our Thanksgiving meal. Gary was under the weather and I had a baby attached to my hip at all times. But the food was delicious and the company was delightful. We have much to be thankful for!

The next day, we went to an old plantation and celebrated a Victorian Christmas:

On Friday night, the adults got away for a night out (woo hoo!) and cousin Jacob babysat. I'm not sure how Jacob got old enough to babysit, but he definitely is - he did a great job - and even got a smile out of Langdon before we left!

Saturday was a big day for two reasons - it was the kids' first time to attend a Wake Forest football game, and Langdon took his first steps (and Gary and I were both actually able to be there to witness it. Yeah!)

Chillin' before the game - and of course this dog-lover would be here!

Ainsley striking a pose in front of Wait Chapel

Racing on the Quad

One of the things that I love about Wake's stadium is the very family-friendly seating on Deacon Hill. It is a hill in one of the end zones where the kids have room to run - and our squirmy kids definitely needed the space!

Worn out!

We won't mention the outcome of the game - it was just fun to be back at Wake! We drove to South Carolina after the game to spend the night with Aunt Pat and Uncle Jim. My cousin Claire was there too. The visit was way too short, but it was so good to see them!

To end the trip, Mary Laine caught the stomach bug that the rest of us had already battled... in the car... in standstill traffic... with three hours left in the trip. But, I feel like that is a rite of passage in parenthood.

So, we are thankful for family and friends, thankful for fun trips and fun experiences, and so so thankful to be back home in our own beds and feeling better :-)

And our greatest source of thanksgiving is the free gift of forgiveness and grace that we have been given in Christ Jesus our Lord! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever." Psalm 136:1

October Fun

2011-11-03T08:56:00.001-07:00

October was a fun-filled month. Of course we had fun celebrating Langdon's birthday, but there was so much more celebrating and playing to be done. Here's a glimpse at our month. We enjoyed...

Playing with friends:

Going to Bull Bottom Farms:

(Yup, of all the pictures that we took, this is the best we could do)

Exploring the Corn Maze

Playing on the hay stacks

The Magic Carpet Slide was her favorite

She got one for Langdon, too

Ready for the ride, with Miriam Jane

Playing in the corn box

At the So You Think You Can Dance Tour with Mimi (where Mary Laine got to see Melanie - her favorite dancer):

Carving our pumpkins:

Visiting family in Thomastown:

First bike ride:

Why are you making me ride a pink bike?!?

At Halloween party, after Halloween party, after Halloween party...:

Woody and Jessie (from Toy Story)

Playing with John Reed

Face-painting!

A pink and purple puppy dog

A pink and purple butterfly (thanks Selena!)

Trick-or-treating at the businesses downtown with Sadie

Before trick-or-treating Halloween night (again, the best that I could get)

Our first stop - Susie's house!!

It's always more fun to go with friends

At Mimi and Papa's house

Too funny - Brently (the dog) was on the other side of this door -

they were trying to get a peak

Happy October!

Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep...

2011-10-27T19:02:00.000-07:00

I was putting Mary Laine to sleep tonight and she wanted to pray all by herself. It was short and sweet:

"Dear God, thank you for this loooooong day when we can do many sins in God. Amen."

Apparently the lesson of grace has been hammered home, but now we may need to work on a proper response to that grace.

"What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be!" Romans 6:15

Langdon Turns One

2011-10-24T21:34:00.001-07:00

Langdon got to celebrate... and celebrate... and celebrate the big first birthday. His actual birthday was on a Wednesday, so we spent the day singing, playing, and eating.

4 weeks old

12 months old

Mary Laine insisted that I take her picture with the lamb too

Papa and Mimi came over for cupcakes that night.

He got a little help blowing out his candle

I'll confess that the icing on his face is mostly from us putting it there.

He seemed to like the cupcake, but wouldn't dig in.

Somebody was a little jealous of all of the attention that was being given to her brother - and all of the sugar from her cupcake wasn't helping matters.

The party continued when we had Langdon's party on Saturday. I'll admit that my first thought was to just have family over for cupcakes on Wednesday, but then I thought that I didn't want to skip the big to-do just because he's my second. Mary Laine's birthday was on a Sunday, so we had our Sunday school class over to celebrate. So, that's what I did for Langdon's party too - we invited our Sunday School class and a few close friends. Thankfully a couple of Langdon's buddies were able to make it (thanks Yates and Cole!), because the majority of our guests were older girls.

Langdon and Yates (who is two days older than Langdon).

Getting alot of attention from the older ladies

Since "dog" is practically the only thing that Langdon will say,

it seemed only fitting to make him a "dog" cake.

Since he didn't dig into his cake on his birthday, we thought that it may look more tempting if it was covered in cheerios. It didn't work.

Mary Laine, however, had no problems digging in. She crawled under the table to make sure that she could enjoy her cake undisturbed.

Langdon with one of his best buddies, Cole

I was a little sad that Langdon didn't seem to be very interested in the cake. A few days later, he was very hungry, so I decided to put a slice of the leftover cake in front of him to see what would happen. He gave me just what I wanted - cake on the face, in the hair - he couldn't get enough. So, here is the proof that he did devour his cake - eventually!

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY SWEET BOY. WE LOVE YOU!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LANGDON!

2011-10-12T05:48:00.001-07:00

What a blessing this past year has been. So thankful that you are a part of our family. I love you sweet boy!

Haircut: FAIL

2011-10-12T05:31:00.000-07:00

So, I thought that I would be all home-eck-ey (that's a word, right?) and give my baby his very first haircut. Daddy had a meeting that night, but no big deal. I could handle a toddler, and infant, a dog, a camera, and a pair of scissors, right? Look at how Proverbs 31 I am! I had given Mary Laine her first haircut and it was great. She sat perfectly still watching her video while I snipped a few unruly hairs and, voila, a cute, barely noticeable trim.

Fast-forward a year and a half. I try to recreate the scene. I use the same bumbo as the seat, play the same DVD for distration, and set-up the same surface. Yes, Langdon is a bit squirmier than his older sister. No, I didn't have the help of my husband to distract him if his head wasn't tilted exactly the right way. But all of that could probably have been dealt with. My one fatal error: a change in utensils. My mom has some scissors that she uses to cut her dog's hair. The ends are blunted to be sure that you don't cut the dog. Perfect for cutting your baby's hair too, right?

I started to snip the hair on his neck and behind his ears just to even it out and straighten it up a bit. Just a touch. Not too much. I looked at my handi-work and realized that it was perfect...ly uneven. What happened? So, I took the scissors and went back over it to straighten it out. Oh, no - big jagged zig-zags. Then it hit me - it wasn't me that was having a hard time cutting in a straight line. It was the scissors. While great for a shaggy dog, NOT great for a baby. So, I went to get the regular old scissors. I went back over it again and realized how my "tiny little trim" had turned into a massacre. I saw that it still wasn't even (my fault this time - not the scissors), but I had to yell to myself, "PUT THE SCISSORS DOWN AND STEP AWAY FROM THE BABY!!!" Poor Langdon! This is the result of his first haircut:

It either looks like Hitler, or like Jim Carrey in Dumb and Dumber. Either way, not exactly the look that I was going for! And just in time for his first birthday party and one-year pictures. Any suggestions for how to get hair to grow faster?

So much for "Proverbs 31" woman. Guess I'm Delilah instead.

September

2011-10-10T16:14:00.001-07:00

September was another busy month. We played at home, enjoyed having family come for a visit, and went on another trip.

Langdon discovered the stairs - and this mama just got a little busier:

Bathtime is still a favorite activity. I love how Langdon is looking at Mary Laine in this picture (and also love looking at those chunky legs!):

Big man is 11 months - and this was the only decent picture that I was able to get. He refused to sit still:

We had been anticipating the arrival of some very special visitors for about a month. Gary's parents came to town, AKA Grammy and Pop-Pop. Here are the fun things that you get to do when grandparents are in town for a visit.

You get held alot:

You dance and sing:

You get on the ground and play:

You eat like a baby bird:

You read....and read, and read, and read...:

You play at the park (and some friends were there when we went - what could be better than the park with grandparents AND friends???)

I have to point out what is so special about these next two pictures. These children are all terrified of dogs. Not just a little uncomfortable, but run screaming if they see a dog in the immediate vicinity. Not quite sure how Gary did it, but we had to document the occasion with a picture (Robin and Elizabeth, I'll get you a copy):

You know who's not afraid of dogs? This guy:

Since Grammy and Pop-Pop were flying out of Jackson, we decided to all drive them down and visit the Children's Museum. I took them in January, and Mary Laine wasn't quite old enough to appreciate it. She is definitely ready now! We were there for hours and didn't even make it through the entire museum.

January, 2011:

September, 2011:

(Thanks for the idea, Aunt Laura!)

The next weekend, we headed over to Auburn to visit Aunt Su-Su. Ever since Mary Laine was old enough to say "Ma-Ma", Susanne has been teaching her that Aubie says, "War Eagle!" It has definitely been ingrained in her.

So happy to see Aunt Su-Su

Slightly afraid of Aubie

The following picture needs an explanation. Mary Laine loves Dr. Seuss's ABC book. A few months ago, she started jumping off of a chair in our family room onto her smaller chair, and as she jumps, she yells "Aunt Annie's Alligator", almost like a battle-cry. It's very funny. I'll try to get it on video one day. Well, on the way home, we stopped to play at a McDonalds, and saw that, in their playplace, they had, live and in-person, Aunt Annie's Alligator. Christmas came early this year:

The month ended with Langdon's first haircut. I gave Mary Laine her first haircut and it went very well. So, I thought that I'd try to replicate the memory for Langdon. Let's just say for now that this event deserves it's own post.

Mary Laine's first haircut: March, 2010

Langdon's first haircut: September, 2011

I'll leave you with a video. Be warned: it's quite long. I told Mary Laine that she could read a book while I dried her hair one night. I missed the beginning of the story (Fancy Nancy and the Delectable Cupcakes), but got the end. Can you tell that we've read this one a few times?

August

2011-10-08T09:41:00.001-07:00

August was filled with more fun around town and more travels. Some of the fun at home included...

Celebrating 10 months of life:

Helping Mama with laundry:

Playing with friends and cousins:

Reading:

Watching football:

Pulling up and crawling:

Cutting teeth:

Growing into Mama's old dresses:

Dressing up:

Taking baths:

Working in the grain bins:

Dancing:

Mary Laine is at the far right:

There were happy times:

Sad times:

And lazy times:

It was a fun and busy month! In the middle of all the August fun, we packed up and headed to South Carolina to visit Great-Aunts, -Uncles, and cousins. We got to spend some time with my cousin Marni and her family, which doesn't happen nearly enough because of busy work schedules and geography. I'm so thankful that we got to see them before they moved to the west coast.

Mackentyer and Mary Laine - only a few months age difference!

ML loved having someone around who was eye-level.

I know I'm biased, but is this not one of the cutest faces that you've ever seen?!?

And Langdon was never wanting for attention:

Thanks for the great time at the lake! I know that you're probably still recovering from our visit, but we're ready to come back!

July - Part 4

2011-10-06T09:43:00.001-07:00

Yes, there's a part 4!! After the beach, we loaded up the car and headed to NOLA. My brother started med school in August and we wanted to visit before he disappeared into the dark hole of the anatomy lab.

When we were checking into our hotel, we were trying to get connecting rooms for us and the kids, and none were available. The bellman who was trying to help us thought that connecting room was for my parents so that they could babysit for us while we went out. We tried to explain that, at this point in our lives, we are not interested in the bar that will keep us out all night, but in the sleeping arrangements that will ensure that we are able to sleep all night. This concept was totally lost on him. No matter how many times or how many different ways we explained it, he kept reassuring us that my parents could just stay in the room with the kids while we were out partying. My conversation with him sure made me feel like I needed a drink!

This was a very quick trip and we were only in town for a couple of days. We spent the first day at the zoo. Mary Laine has a signing video called "Zoo Train". She had so much fun teaching us all of the signs for the animals that she saw.

"This is the sign for rhinoceros"

At one point, I asked Mary Laine what she was most excited about having seen so far. She quickly responded, "The giraffes!" - But we hadn't seen the giraffes yet. Although very hot and tired by the time we made it to the giraffes, she was so excited to finally be able to see her favorite animal.

Any trip that ends like this is counted as a success in my book! She was worn out! (And her Langdon was just happy to be!) We even went in the gift shop to buy her a stuffed giraffe and tried to wake her up to ask her what she wanted... she didn't budge. At one point I started to worry that something was wrong with her. No worries - she was going at full speed a few hours later.

We celebrated my birthday at Delmonico. Langdon was a little squirmy/fussy and Mary Laine had to go to the bathroom about 3 times and insisted that I be the one to take her. When I was actually able to sit down and get a bite, it was so good (and worth the work)! Birthdays aren't quite what they used to be. This is definitely an improvement over my birthday last year:

The next day was Walker's white coat ceremony. I had dreams that Langdon would fall asleep on my shoulder and rest peacefully through the entire ceremony while Mary Laine watched all of the doctors in awe, dreaming about her future career in medicine ;-). From what I'm told, Mary Laine actually behaved very well. Langdon, however, had different plans. He was actually very happy, but wide awake and ready for a conversation. He "talked" the entire time, so I took him out in the hall and paced. I was told that he got a mention in one of the speeches, though, as someone who needed soothing. Go Langdon!

All happy and quiet before things got started

Walker's speech was a little slicey

While it was a great trip, and we're definitely glad that we went, I do have to point out some of the things that happened on our last day there (which was also my birthday): Mary Laine fell asleep in the car on the way to church, so we decided to just drive around since we wanted her to be on her best behavior for the ceremony that afternoon, we discovered that the valet at the hotel had wrecked our car, the "1 hour" ceremony was closer to 3 (no big deal, unless you have 2 small children who have a hard time sitting still for that long), we got stuck in terrible traffic on the way out of town, and a few weeks later, we received a lovely note from the City of New Orleans thanking us for visiting the city (while also charging us a nice fee for going 11 miles an hour over the speed limit when we were on our way to the zoo) - we're so glad that we can help keep New Orlean's fantastic camera-ticket system in operation.

All joking aside, we are so proud of Walker and are happy to have him back down south. We can't wait to go back for another visit - but will someone else drive?

July - Part 3

2011-10-05T19:52:00.001-07:00

The next stop was St. Simons Island. We love SSI!! Gary and I got married there and we took our kids there when they were each only a few months old. There are many reasons that this place is so dear to us. One of the reasons is that we usually are able to reunite with family while we're there. This summer, we were able to spend time with the Sturdivant extended family and also with Andy, Kelly, Jacob and Payton (Gary's older brother and family).

We enjoyed the sunrises:

The pool time:

Time with Aunt Ygondine:

The beach:

Building sand castles:

Tennis:

Playing with cousin Jane:

(The girls' matching outfits were planned - the moms' were not!)

Time with Andy, Kelly, Jacob and Payton:

Fishing:

Golfing (putt-putt and regular):

Racquetball:

Hanging out with Mimi and Papa:

Time at the water park:

What a great time in St. Simons!

July - Part 2

2011-10-05T18:49:00.001-07:00

On the 12th, our sweet boy hit the 9 month mark. Here he is, getting to be so big!
A few days later, we packed up the car and headed out for a very long (and much appreciated!) vacation. Our first stop was Hilton Head to spend a few days with the Galbreaths.

Do you see that smile on Mary Laine's face?!?

She was so excited to be with Carter and Kelsey!

Out on the boat for a ride

The guys got to do a little fishing

Storytime with Uncle Phillip

Baby Collin is expected to arrive any day now, so the next time we see the Galbreaths, they'll be a family of 5! We are so thankful to have such great friends and so many good memories with them. We love you, Galbreath family!!

July - Part 1

2011-10-05T05:31:00.001-07:00

Wow - this parenting thing is hard! Any of you with two little ones knows that there isn't much free time, and the little bit that I get is used doing something a little more fun and relaxing than blogging. But I don't scrapbook, I'm not great at keeping up with baby books, so this is the keepsake for my kids. I will get caught up. And since we have a certain one year old's birthday coming up next week, I have motivation to do some major blogging. Yes, it's been a YEAR since I was miserable and on bedrest... And I know that I usually actually got in the shower and put on makeup before I let anyone take a picture of me. I'm just going to take a minute to be completely honest. I wanted everyone to think that I handled bedrest like this:

When, in reality, it was really more like this (oh my, I cannot believe that I'm going to post this picture!! If it's disappeared by the time that you're reading this post, that means that I've come to my senses and deleted it!):

Have I mentioned how happy I am to have that experience a year behind me? Anyway... back to July! *WARNING: We did alot of stuff in July. This may take awhile.*

As I've mentioned before, we have decided to have Mary Laine's birthday parties on her half-birthday in the summer since her birthday is so close to Christmas. Her favorite thing to watch on TV right now is Super Why, so she asked for a Super Why party.

She needed a little help from Daddy - her feet barely reached the pedals

Playing with one of her favorite new toys - her kitchen.

She loves to come into the kitchen and cook with me now.

Deacon got in on the celebration.

Does this picture make anyone else think of this?:

Happy happy half-birthday Mary Laine! We love you!!

4th of July

2011-09-05T05:30:00.001-07:00

We had a very busy month of July. It will probably take me awhile to post about all of it. At the beginning of the month, we enjoyed a few 4th of July celebrations. The day before the 4th, we went swimming with some friends. On the actual holiday, we drove over to Oxford to celebrate with Aunt Sis and cousin Will (who came in from Nashville). Mary Laine was about half-way through her swim lessons at that point, so she was enjoying the "practice" at all of the pools. (Spoiler alert: she didn't actually learn how to swim :(. But she has NO fear... which may or may not be a good thing). I also got a new camera as an early birthday present, so I'm going to include some of the pictures that we took to test it out.

So tired after a long day that she fell asleep on the floor.

Happy Birthday Gabby!

2011-08-29T15:30:00.000-07:00

Seems like yesterday that I was here with her:

And now she's 3!

Happy Birthday Gabby!!

June

2011-08-27T05:46:00.000-07:00

The big event in June was VBS. Our theme this year was Gold Rush. The kids learned that Jesus is the only true gold - it all was great. We also enjoyed some pool time and just hanging out.

Five Little Monkeys is still a favorite

She loves board games

She loves to wear her rain boots - rain is optional

Cuteness

Playing in the sprinklers

1st attempt at his 8 month picture - right before naptime

Much happier after his nap

Mary Laine with her big friend Matthew Ryan. He offered to hold her hand on the way to our car after lunch one day. I overheard him tell her, "Mary Laine, if a bee landed on you, I would catch him with my bug catcher!"

My friend Allison welcoming everyone to Gold Rush VBS

Aunt Sis came to see the VBS program

Celebrating the 4th of July a little early -

on our way to the Stars and Stripes Festival

May

2011-08-25T05:08:00.000-07:00

May was a fun month for us. We were able to start going to the pool (but, since I was trying to keep up with two kids in the pool, I wasn't able to get any pictures of it). We also went to Jackson with Mimi and Aunt Su-Su. We went to the zoo and also took Mary Laine to see her first movie - Rio. Langdon hit the 7 month mark. We took a trip to Thomastown to visit Great-great-Aunt Ada, Great-great-Uncle George and Diane, and Mary Laine got her first salon hair cut, Gary got to go on a few golf trips while we were busy with all of our summertime fun.

Is there anything sweeter than a sleeping baby?

LOVE it!!

The giraffes were definitely her favorites

Choo-Choo!

So excited to ride the train

Langdon and Mimi waited for us at the station

The conductor told her to keep her hands inside the train,

so she sat like this the entire time.

We love bathtime

7 months old

Sitting on the back porch, discussing life with Uncle George

Checking out the chicken coop

Love reading time with Aunt Ada

First big-guhl haircut

More April Cuteness

2011-08-24T05:38:00.001-07:00

He is Still Risen in August

2011-08-24T05:19:00.000-07:00

I did this a few years ago in June... I guess that having two children puts me two more months behind on my blogging. Here are a few pictures from Easter this year. It is so much more fun being able to celebrate now that we can start to explain to Mary Laine exactly what Easter is. Although I do have to say, when I told her that the empty eggs were better than the ones with candy because it reminds us that Jesus wasn't in the tomb, I don't think that she agreed.

Mary Laine was sick on Easter morning, so she and I didn't go to church, but we did go to Mimi and Papa's to eat lunch with the Sturdivant family that afternoon. Here are a few of our pictures.

Getting to be such a Big Boy!

2011-08-18T05:03:00.000-07:00

Wow - I realize that I've only posted Birthday/Anniversary songs on here since early June. I have alot of catching up to do. We've had a very full summer. We have been on the road on and off since mid-July and are finally home for good (well, until our trip to Auburn next month). We have had such a fun summer and the kids are growing and changing so much. I will try to sit down over the next week and post about our summer adventures. But I wanted to go ahead and get something on here to show what Langdon's been up to lately. Two days ago, he finally decided to start crawling (he's been scooting backwards for awhile now), and he also said his first word (aside from "Mama" and "Dada") - he said "dog", and he signed it, right after he crawled over to Deacon. I caught a little bit of the crawling on video, but couldn't get him to actually say "dog" again. I'll try to catch him doing it in the next few days.

Happy Anniversary Mimi and Papa!

2011-08-06T15:49:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Uncle Jimmy!

2011-08-06T15:48:00.000-07:00

Happy Anniversary Uncle Andy and Aunt Kelly

2011-07-25T17:15:00.000-07:00

Happy Anniversary Uncle Chris & Aunt Catherine!

2011-07-06T10:41:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Payton!

2011-07-06T10:40:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Uncle Andy!

2011-07-05T12:11:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Aunt Kelly!

2011-06-28T15:31:00.001-07:00

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-19T15:07:00.000-07:00

Happy Anniversary Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Kate

2011-06-19T15:06:00.000-07:00

Rolling Over

2011-06-10T04:39:00.001-07:00

Look at what Langdon did yesterday.

Babies are supposed to roll from back to front at 6 months - Langdon will be 8 months next week. It isn't easy to move those chubby legs around!

Happy Anniversary Grammy and Pop-Pop

2011-06-01T10:51:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Uncle Wa-Wa

2011-05-30T09:42:00.001-07:00

6 Months!

2011-05-28T05:06:00.001-07:00

[Well, it's actually 7 now (and nearly 8), but we'll pretend that it's still April and I'm not months behind on blogging...]

Two days after the big baptism, our little man turned 6 months old. As is tradition in our house, we made a big to-do about his half-birthday. The day started out with some milk, a bath, and tummy-time.

And he got birthday hugs from his big sister.

We played at Twin Rivers, and then at church with Ms. Ada and Ms. Shay.

No day is complete without some time stretching those chubby little legs in the jumperoo.

We took the birthday picture. Look at how much he's changed since the first one of these that we took!

After a good nap, Langdon got his first taste of big-boy food. Mmmmm... rice cereal!

Instead of our usual half-cupcakes, we had a half-of-a-half of the strawberry cake that was leftover from the baptism (I know, I know... I'm stretching on that one!) We had a special guest join us for the birthday celebration - one of Langdon's favorite friends: Mr. Mischa!Langdon was so full and exhausted from his fun-filled day that he slept through his birthday song and the cutting of the cake. He was so tired, he couldn't even get the fingers into his mouth.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET BOY! WE LOVE YOU!!

Happy Birthday Grammy!

2011-05-27T15:17:00.000-07:00

A New Seeds!

2011-05-25T05:07:00.000-07:00

I'm giddy with excitement - I'm a little behind the times and just found out that Seeds Family Worship has released a new CD. They are doing a "blog tour" right now and are releasing a new song on different blogs throughout the month of May. I just read about it on Tim Challies' blog. Check out "More Than Conquerors" here. You can go here to order the CD (they always send two - one to keep and one to give away), or it is also available on iTunes.

I know that I've mentioned it before, but Mary Laine loves all of the Seeds albums that we have (which I think is all of them). A couple of days ago, she was singing "Small as a Mustard Seed", and instead of singing, "nothing will be impossible for you," she was singing, "nothing will be in popsicle for you". Even though it's not quite accurate, I think that there's a theology lesson in those words too...

So excited to get a new Seeds album! Enjoy!

Afternoon Fun

2011-05-21T16:06:00.000-07:00

Summertime Fun

2011-05-20T15:24:00.000-07:00

This is Mary Laine's favorite part of summer. We did this for about an hour this afternoon - nonstop!

A Video for Aunt Su

2011-05-19T12:39:00.000-07:00

Oh the things that we won't do to entertain Mary Laine! This is a video of our family (both sides of the family, actually) dancing to the "Hippopotamus" song just before Christmas (if anyone from my high school AP English class is reading this - does that song bring back memories? Bet you hoped that you'd never have to listen to that song ever again, huh?). Susanne has been asking for me to post it for almost 5 months. And I'm pretty sure that we didn't know that we were being filmed. Here you go: