Christmas 2010

Santa is all set up and ready to be discovered.Katie Jo's loot. She had a "Scooby Doo" theme.
Georgia's loot. She had a "Fashion Barbie" theme.
And Santa left them both "Furry Frenzies" to enjoy.
They discovered their things and immediately started playing.
Georgia had to check out Barbie's shoes first!
Yay for the unicorn pillow pet! It was a last second request and so far her favorite thing she got.



Katie Jo and Georgia went shopping with me separately to get each other gifts. Georgia picked out a sparkle pair of shoes and a blanket for Katie Jo and Katie Jo picked out a "Tangled" t-shirt and skirt and a new hat and gloves set. This was by far the best thing we could do to get them in the spirit of giving. They were both so excited to see the other open their gift to see the reaction. Jay and I don't do gifts for each other but we do give gifts to each other that the girls pick out. This year Jay got a sweater and some boxers. I got new bath towels!
We spent quite some time opening gifts. The girls had their gifts from Santa then gifts from Mommy and Daddy. After breakfast we opened gifts from Mia, Aunt Joni, and Aunt Jessica and family, and Grandaddy and Mema. They got lots of wonderful dolls, clothes, activities, and books.







After a break we opened gifts from Gran and Pop. They helped the girls get ready for dance class with new leotards, tap shoes, and ballet shoes. They also were kind enough to do new bedding for each of the girls' bedrooms.




We had a lovely Christmas dinner at 5ish and by then it felt like 10 pm!
We bought a birthday cake and lit the candles to sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus.
We also got a family gift this year. We haven't had any video gaming systems before and Jay found the new xbox 360 kinect. It doesn't involve any hand held devices and the kinect sensor reads your profile so that when you step in front of the game your character immediately comes on the screen! Cool! He bought the girls an animal game and they love making their animals do tricks and interacting with it on screen. Below is Georgia with her animal the tiger.
The day after Christmas we had snow! It wasn't much but when your children are little and you never see it, it is a BIG deal! We enjoyed it and we enjoyed having COLD weather for the Christmas weekend.

Christms Eve 2010

We had a very relaxing Christmas Eve. We started the day with a family breakfast of cinnamon rolls. Jay had a few last second errands to run and so the girls and I relaxed at the house. We did the usual getting ready for a house full of guest chores and then welcomed Uncle Brian, Gran and Pop. We ate a nice lunch of Lowcountry Boil and thanks to Aunt Joni got our luminaries set up. The girls got to open their usual one Christmas Eve gift, pajamas and we also had an Eve gift from Grandaddy and Mema; a recorded reading of "The Night Before Christms." Jay and I took the girls to the Christmas Eve service at church and when we returned we were joined by the Weaver family for our annual ride around the neighborhood to see the lights. Georgia was so tired she feel asleep sitting up in a chair with the frigid air blowing in her face! After the ride we settled back in at the house for leftovers, marshmellow roasting, and treats that Mia brought. The girls went to bed and Jay and I stayed up till 11 getting Santa ready.

August Round-up

August has been a busy month and I can't believe September is already here. We had the beginning of school, the beginning of preschool and the beginning of some new adventures.

First, we had the beginning of gymnastics at the Y. The girls LOVE it and were only ramped up a little by the multiple viewings of YouTube gymdawg videos by Daddy. They both love jumping down the tumble track and swinging on the bars. Katie Jo is perfecting her back bend and Georgia is perfecting her listening and waiting on her turn skills.

We also got a trampoline. The last 7 months have seen a lot of sacrifice due to losing one of our family dogs, watching our neighbors/friends move away, and going through a grueling campaign. So Jay and I decided it would be fun to get a family gift for us all to enjoy. The girls love going out to jump and it doesn't matter if it's 100 degrees they'll do it anyway. We do have to sweep it off a lot but that's ok.

Katie Jo began Kindergarten. She loves her teacher, riding the bus, and going to recess. She is very good in school and her teacher has already lavished lots of praise on her good behavior. She is an eager learner and I suspect we won't have any trouble watching her grow this year. I look forward to her beginning to read although this won't come until later in the year. She is a precious child and we couldn't be prouder of her.

I celebrated my 35 birthday. I am glad to be another year older and was happy to celebrate it with my family and friends. Jay got me a pedicure certificate and an itunes card which was great (especially since it came straight off the list I had Katie Jo write!). Our friends the Weaver's came over and helped celebrate with cake and ice cream.

Georgia began preschool at the end of the month. She has only gone one week to date but she was SO excited to get started and I'm sure missing Katie Jo had something to do with it. She has lots of friends from last year's class so she was very comfortable going in the first day. So far she has done well and we hope that continues. I would like to see her listening skills improve and overall just enjoy being there. She continues to be such a sassy and funny little girl.

This month we also got an answer to a lingering issue we've been tracking for several months. Katie Jo was diagnosed with Juvenile Arthritis. We had noticed back in January that she limped, ran with a short gate, and had trouble doing things that should come normally to a 4.5 year old. After meeting with the pediatrician and having labs run it seemed things were all normal. Again in April we revisited the issue and had additional labs run. This time an elevation was spotted in one of her labs which indicated joint inflammation. We were referred to a specialist at MUSC. We were finally able to get in with him in August and he gave us the answer which finally put this subject to peace. She has a mild form of arthritis but we are already taking an active role in helping her to get better and hopefully move beyond this diagnosis. We can see a huge change in her already after taking advantage of some of our options in helping her. She is still an active little girl that is growing and developing right on track. We look for her to use this challenge to grow her even more and see that you can never work too hard or try to hard to stay active and strong.

See you again in September!