Gig em!!

So our football season started off awesome. But then we started to tank. Either way, I have to share some pictures we took of our cutest little Aggie fans. Their aunt Liz made these overalls. I am afraid to share this too broadly - she might get a contract to design overalls for the yell leaders next football season. Aren't they adorable? She is incredible!

Caro has gig'em down.

Catherine's gig'em needs some work.

Freshman wildcat? Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Fall fun, part I

Fall is my favorite season. Ever since trips to the apple orchard when we lived in Indiana, high school homecoming and bonfires in Delaware, to football season during our days at A&M, fall is absolutely the BEST! The season here in north Alabama doesn't disappoint, either! We have crisp nights and mornings and beautiful sunny days. (Well, mostly. Just wait for my post about Catherine's birthday coming soon . . .)

We took a Saturday morning in September to explore the Hays Nature Preserve with our friend Jason. We took a short hike (isn't that all you can do with two little kids?) and explore the all-wooden natural playground. This place is one of the treasures of our area, for sure!

Super fun swing!

It takes Flash and Mr. Jason to push Daddy on this super-sized swing! (Don't you love it when grown men still have fun!?)

Catherine wasn't too sure about this huge swing, but riding on it with Daddy made it better!

We found this bridge piece on our hike and Catherine had a surprising amount of fun treating it like a teeter-totter and a a trampoline.

Little hikers got tired. Mama isn't carrying anybody these days!

My sweet girls and me!

Lunch time!

The happiest two-year old you'll find. Most of the time. :)

First, I'll push you, Mr. Jason.

And now you can push me!

First trip to the ER

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later! Catherine slipped when getting out of the bath and bit a huge hole in the crease of her mouth. We got the bleeding to stop and debated back and forth about the merits of having her seen by a doctor. But after asking a family friend (who is a physician) and reading a little online, we learned that, if a wound needs stitches, waiting really isn't an option. After 12ish hours, it gets to be too late to put them in. Since we were worried about scarring and her ability to eat, we opted to be safe rather than sorry. She was in a fair amount of pain, but after an hour or so had passed and we explained what we were going to be doing, she hopped right in the car (at 8:30 at night), declaring "This is gonna be great!" Maybe I did too good a job, trying to prepare her for the experience so she wouldn't be afraid. Ha!

I have a picture of the actual wound, but in the name of discretion, I'll leave that one alone on my phone. The cut was on the right side and can't actually be seen in either of these pictures. It was pretty nasty. And her face wasn't swollen yet in these pictures, but was bruised and swollen for about a week afterwards. The doctor said that the mouth would heal very quickly (and was right!) and that any scarring would actually be worse if they put a stitch in that part of the mouth. So no stitches were needed and we were home by 10:30. We were very thankful!

Elmo at 9:00 at night? She looks pretty happy, considering!

One way to get her to put ice on it? Give her a popsicle. I think she thought the ER was pretty great...

Our little ballerina

Catherine is growing up so fast. She is definitely now 100% little girl. Any traces of toddler are long gone. She is a little girl. Big feelings, high drama, lots of opinions, tons of love, and her own personality.

She has been asking for about six months to take a dance class and at the beginning of the school year, we decided she could give it a try. Her class is once a week and they do ballet, tap, and acrobatics. When I took her to the dance store to get outfitted with all the gear (and, oh my, there is a lot of gear), she told me as we left the store, smiling her very biggest grin, "Mommy, that was the girliest store I've ever seen!" She looks forward to dance each week and she and Caroline play "dance class" almost every day. Here are a few photos from her first day.

First day photos

We headed back to preschool in mid-August. Both of the girls will be attending on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Since I am posting this with a few weeks of school behind us, I am happy to report that both have settled into their new school routine super well. They love their classes and genuinely look forward to going. Catherine would love to go more, I think. But for Caroline, two days a week was the perfect start. She struggled with her new routine for a couple of weeks, but couldn't be happier now that she's made the adjustment. It has already made her so much more grown up! I am so proud of her!

On the first day of school, Catherine actually went without Caroline. She was sick and missed her first two days, which is funny because Catherine also missed her first two days ever of school. Guess that's just what we do.

The first day both girls attended! They weren't really too interested in the picture taking, but they put up with me briefly.

Catherine put me on the spot on the way home from school, "Mommy, we need to celebrate Caroline's first ever day of school. What are we going to do?" "We are heading to Publix to get a (free) cookie at the bakery!" What can I say, I go all out. I don't know why they were hugging themselves....

Getting ready for back to school!

Well, this has been quite a blogging hiatus. I got inspired a few days ago when showing Catherine some old pictures on the blog. I thought, man, why have I been slacking? This kind of family record is so much fun! We are making precious memories, but I sure can't rely on my memory to hold them!

Schools around here start insanely early (at least to a girl who grew up heading back to school after Labor Day!), like the first week of August. Our preschool steals a couple more weeks of summer and begins in the middle of the month.

The week before school started, we did the standard stuff. I don't get to buy school supplies yet (but oh, I can't wait. How I LOVE fresh notebooks, pens, markers, etc!), but we did get both girls a haircut, hit up the dentist, and bought new school shoes. What fun!

Here are a few photos from the haircuts. This was Caroline's first one ever. My girls don't have a ton of hair. We sure save money and stress because of it! We are letting both grow out in pursuit of that elusive goal, the pony tail, so they just got a trim. 

Before the haircut

Long and a little scraggly

Can you tell they have a movie on?

Quite patient, thanks to Dora . . .

All trimmed up

The stylist attempted to braid their bangs away from their face. I don't feel so bad about my braids because hers didn't really stay in either.

Afterwards, all trimmed up!

Celebrating the miracle of US

Our summer has ended pretty sweetly. Nana and Paw Paw came for a few days to watch the girls so that Russell and I could have a weekend away together to celebrate our anniversary. Folks, we have been married NINE years. I scarcely feel like the same person who said, "I do," in that mountain chapel all those years ago. Being a wife, being a mom . . . it changes you. But still, I know more about love, loyalty, myself, and hope thanks to the last nine years. It hasn't always been easy, but I can definitely say it's been good.

We left our camera at home, so I don't have many pics of our trip. Our primary objective was to relax, not to sight see. We just went up to Lookout Mountain, which, while very pretty, was someplace we've been before and will likely go again. In fact, the B&B where we stayed was the same place we celebrated our fifth anniversary, just two months before Catherine was born. It's crazy to think that last time we were there, we were CHILDLESS. Ha, that seems like a lifetime ago!

We ate some yummy food, bought new throw pillows for our couch (cause that's normal), took a few short walks, and saw TWO movies. Anyone who has raised small children knows how difficult it is to go see a movie (without, oh, a week's worth of planning and the sale of a kidney to pay a sitter). So to see two in twenty-four hours, well, wow.

*By the way, we really love our sitter and she doesn't overcharge us at all. She is wonderful and worth every penny. And I do still have all my organs. I was merely hyperbolizing - a movie for two is much more expensive than the price of two tickets when you have to factor that in.

The Chanticleer Inn on Lookout Mountain - Can't recommend it highly enough. It is so beautiful and relaxing! Watching hummingbirds have their breakfast beside you? Yes please! And boy, can those ladies cook!

The view from Sunset Rock in Lookout Mountain. Formerly a lookout point for the confederate army, it now mostly serves as a place for high school couples to hook up, along as the scene of an occasional engagement. Yay for the old folks crashing the party!

I gotta admit, it was pretty romantic. Except that the guy who was part of the couple next to us was seriously munching corn on the cob as snack food. That was a little odd.

When our actual anniversary rolled around the next Wednesday, we didn't have too much celebrating left in us. Russell came home from work with sparkling cider and a bouquet of roses for me and a single rose for each of the girls.

Then Russell kindly suggested that I shouldn't have to cook dinner on my anniversary, so we took the kids to Cracker Barrel to celebrate. It might not be a romantic, quiet, candlelit table for two kind of place, but it's quick and the kids love the food. So no one complained and I didn't have to cook or clean up. Anniversary for the win!

Love the rocking chairs. They found a pink one that was just their size. Well, for ONE of them. :)

We came back home and sipped the sparkling cider with the girls and showed them photos from our wedding day. Catherine was fascinated, but Caroline was quite upset that she and her sister weren't in any of the pictures. "Before you were born" isn't really something a two-year-old can grasp.

Anyway, it was a ton of fun and a great way to celebrate the end of our ninth year of marriage. That decade is just around the corner! (Hint, hint, honey???) Lots of love to go around!