They Grow Up So Fast

This past Sunday I spent the entire day decorating the Junior class hallway for

Homecoming. The kids have been working for a month with glitter, Christmas lights, and spray paint, and it totally paid off. Since Matthew had been in Clemson for the big game, Vera got to go to school with me and help out. She was a big hit with her kitty jeans and big girl shoes. Ruthie picked them out for her and they are perfect for our future walker. Thank you for her adorable shoes Ruthie; she loves them! Here she is attempting to open a locker. She loved twisting the lock and banging on the metal. I love the side view because you can see her chubby little cheeks. I can't even imagine the day when she is big enough to actually go to school with me. Matthew came to school and rescued her after a short time and she got to spend the entire day with her daddy. My little baby is growing up too quickly.

Bath Time with Cousin Luke

This weekend it was just us girls again. Vera and I went Christmas shopping, birthday party planning, and then just relaxed with the cousins. Vera loves hanging out with the boys, but especially Little Luke. I knew they were close, but I had no idea how close until tonight. When Aunt Heidi would have to tell Luke no, he would stick out his little bottom lip and cry. This resulted in Vera crying too, and I mean really crying. She did not like that someone made her best buddy cry and she let us all know it. She cried so hard there were tears and hiccups. Here they are before all the drama getting a drum lesson from cousin Reese. After all that and dinner we headed upstairs for bath time. Here she is playing with all the boy toys. She kept putting Spider man into the tug boat for a ride. Here they both are just splashing around and having a grand old time. Vera is starting to stand in the bathtub and it scares me half to death. When I would say no, both her and Luke would look up and V would reluctantly sit back down. I have to preface what happened next with the fact that Vera loves her bath time. She has never once cried while splashing around in the water. With that said, the bottom fell out. Luke kept eating the soap suds and the bath toys so Aunt Heidi had to say the dreaded "no" word. The following picture is the result of said "no". I love that they are so close and have each other's back, but come on. They both started crying. Vera does NOT like it at all when you mess with her Luke. I foresee this causing lots of trouble in the future when they are really old enough to work together and get into trouble. Thanks for sharing your toys and bath time with us Luke!

One Small Little Hospital Gown

Bright and early this morning we packed up a sleepy Vera and headed down to Children's Hospital; Vera was getting ear tubes. In ten months she has had five ear infections, and hopefully by adding these tubes we won't have any more. Here we are in the waiting room. Vera seems to be showing off her intake bracelet.

They even put a little baby hospital gown on her. Here she is wondering where that breeze is coming from.
Daddy and Vera waiting for the doctors to come and talk to us and take Vera back. Here she was giving the nurse the stink eye as she was about to take her vitals. Vera did so well and was super brave. She wasn't able to eat before hand, but she still didn't cry until after the surgery. We got to walk her back to the OR and then I had to hand her over to a nurse. She just put her head on the nurses shoulder and looked at us like we had just kicked her. I didn't cry, but I teared up. When she was brought back to us after the surgery, she was not happy, and that is putting it lightly. We were warned that she would be groggy and crying, but that doesn't do it justice. Boom went the dynamite, and Vera was crying and screaming for forty-five minutes. She was crying so hard that her little body shook and her eyes were all puffy. The wonderful nurses brought in bubbles to help distract her, but nothing but time really worked. We finally were released and Vera slept all the home. When she woke up she was slowly coming back to her sweet self, and by that evening, you would never have known she had surgery. We just love our sweet little patient.

Vera Goes to TigerTown

This weekend marked another visit to South Carolina and another football game. Vera loves it because she gets to spend time with Ruthie and Mama Lucy. Her she is with daddy and cousin Karcie. Karcie doesn't look to thrilled here. Vera LOVES her cousin Kamdyn and crawled everywhere she did. Kamdyn would leave the room and Vera would still be looking for her.

Here we all are in Tiger Town Tavern. If Vera decides to go to Clemson some day, I have a feeling she would spend a lot of time here. I am still pushing for Indiana and Nick's, but we'll see.

Daddy and Vera outside the bar. I can't wait till it gets a little cooler so Vera can attend a tailgate and wear her tiger suit.

Celebrate Hope

Today we celebrated America in remembrance of September 11th by attending our little city's family festival called Celebrate Hope. It was in honor of 9/11, and focused on Jesus and that because of Him we have hope in our future.

Here we are before heading off to church; Vera is all smiles in daddy's arms. It just amazes me how much they look alike.

The festival had a petting zoo, and Vera and I decided to take full advantage of this. Here we are by the potbelly pig. He was

awesome and his curly little tail would wiggle when you scratched his ears. Vera even liked the ram despite the fact that he looked like his fur hadn't been brushed in ages.


They also had a donkey. Here Reese and I are petting her. Jackson asked if this was Jesus' donkey and I had to explain that His donkey was no longer with us. He asked if he had moved, to which I just said yes.
The best part about all of this was that it was all free. Jackson and I decided to take advantage of the cotton candy machine, and Vera was watching us gobble it up. Next year she'll be old enough to take part in all the activities.

Vera just relaxing and watching her cousins slide down one of the twenty bouncy houses. For real, there were different bouncy houses everywhere you looked.

Cousin Jackson sliding down. I can't wait to take Vera down this next year.

Back at the petting zoo with a baby pig. Little Wilber was so cute, and I swear he was smiling. It was the perfect afternoon and a fabulous way to spend time with family and remember that our freedom comes at a price.

Everyday Vera

Vera just makes us laugh everyday, and she seems to be growing and changing constantly. As busy as everyday life gets, it sometimes gets hard to slow down and remember it all. Here are some of the "everyday" little moments with V. Here she is watching daddy from the outside.
I call this one the squishy face. She was making bubbles against the glass.

Vera playing with her favorite toy, her kitchen. I imagine her turning around and uttering the phrase "I never go anywhere without my kitty jeans"

Just loving life and laughing at mommy.

Snuggling and resting with Mr. Jellybeans.

Having a good time after her bath.

Vera practicing her octopus face for Halloween.

Another 9mo Picture

Here is another 9 month picture. We tried so hard to get Vera to stand up for the photo, but it just didn't come together. Now she is crawling and I'm not even sure she'll sit still for a picture any more. We'll see.

King of the Road

This past weekend Matthew and I headed down to South Carolina. Matthew went to the season opener for Clemson, and I stayed in the air conditioning and played with the family. Vera had a great time with Mama Lucy and Ruthie; she is now an excellent bye-bye waver because of the visit. We were about forty-five minutes into the drive home and Vera and I awoke to shaking and the smell of smoke. Turns out we blew a tire pulling a U-Haul. Matthew sprang into action and quickly had the busted tire off, but then disaster struck...the jack fell off and could not be placed back on without help. At this point, Vera started crying and wanted out of the car, so her and I headed into the roadside ditch and hung out. I'm not going to lie, I was super nervous because of the giant semi trucks wizzing by at 70 miles an hour. Nonetheless, we decided to wait it out on the ditch. She was entertained by snacking on yogurt bites and daddy's sunglasses. Three emergency service calls later, we joined AAA and help was on the way in about a half an hour. Here are Matthew and Vera just relaxing on a sheet we had in the back of the car; notice the busted out tire in the background. All in all the ordeal set us back about an hour and a half. Vera was sweet as always and was happy as a clam once she was out of her car seat. Hopefully this football season will lead to many uneventful trips home.