Thursday, May 29, 2008

Twins

This morning Cate was playing on the floor while we were all getting dressed for the day. She got a little fussy so I walked over to see about her and this is where I found her. Halfway under the bed...



The reason I got such a kick out of it and had to make a mad dash for my camera before she moved is because of this (it's Towns in the exact same place two years ago)....




Towns and Cate are so different, but then again they'll do things that remind me so much of each other. Sometimes it's easy to forget that they're really 2 years apart because the things they do could make them twins!

Monday, May 26, 2008

Sweet






A Big Month



Cate's just turned 8 months old and she's gotten a lot of "firsts" under her belt this month! She's become an expert crawler, gotten two bottom teeth, wants to take off and walk, discovered that a phone is suppose to be put to her ear (J says that that's a girl for you), and has learned to say "dada" and know who she's suppose to be looking for when she's saying it. It's the cutest thing ever! And of course her daddy eats it up! She's very into books and will go for a book over any toy that's in front of her. Her other favorite thing is a shadow. It keeps her attention like nothing I've ever seen! She's finally almost 17 pounds....YEA!! That's HUGE for her! But she hides her weight well because she still so small that she hasn't made it out of 3-6 month size clothes yet! One day she'll appreciate that. She's at such a fun stage and it thrills my soul that she still loves to be loved on. Everything makes her laugh which is undoubtedly my most favorite sound. She's got more energy than I've ever seen a baby have...I call her my wild woman!

In this picture, she's deep into the "Wheels on the Bus" book...



Here she's trying to figure out the shadows the wooden blinds make on the kitchen floor when the sun shines in in the morning....





Happy 8 Month Birthday, Cate-Cate!!

Friday, May 23, 2008

Watch This



Those two words are what I hear ALL day long. My child has turned into a monkey overnight. I don't know where it's come from, but all she does all day long is flip and climb and be the biggest dare devil you ever did see. She climbs up door frames, bed posts, chairs, stools, and anything else she can find. She hangs onto door knobs and tries to climb up the door. And before she does any of her tricks she says about twenty times..."watch this". So inevitably, that's what I hear from sun up 'til sun down. If I don't look right that second she'll follow it with "hey Mommy, hey Mommy, HEY MOMMY...WATCH...THISSSSS"! She can turn a mean front flip, and has her own version of a cartwheel that somehow she does without breaking her neck or injuring her spinal cord. Don't ask me how. And jumping...well, she'll jump off of anything and everything no matter how high it is. The other day Jonathan took her to play...he wouldn't tell me where he was taking her, only that he needed my camera or else I'd never believe it. (See photos below...that's her climbing up the 30 foot cliff.) I think the minute she turned three all fear in her body left her. She's become the most independent little thing, and most times thinks she doesn't need me to help her with anything. Not something I'm prepared for, but I'm glad she has that instinct in her for when she really needs it. She wants to open every door on her own, wants to dress herself, feed herself, brush her teeth, etc. all by herself. And if you try to give her any kind of help she'll quickly let you know she's very capable of handling it on her own. She's even gotten so gutsy as to ride her bike while standing up on her pedals...if she's feeling really adventurous she'll stick a leg out so that she's only got one foot keeping her on the bike. She really is the funniest thing I've ever known. What I love is that Cate seems like she's got an even wilder personality which will make for some mucho fun times!





Should I Be Worried....

that this is a sign of what's to come? This is what happened this morning when I turned by back for two seconds.....



In other news, Cate's come to love everything Towns has. This is her checking out Towns' kitchen and helping herself to a plastic waffle...


Monday, May 12, 2008

Towns is THREE!!

And has been for over 2 weeks now! Can you tell I've got a lot of catching up to do? Better late than never, I suppose. This seems to be the story of my life these days! Towns' 3rd birthday was 2 weeks ago and I chose a few pictures from the big day to share. It was a great day filled with one fun thing after another! I had grand plans for an elaborate post, but I'll let the pictures suffice for now!

**For some strange reason the slide show isn't working for me, but you can click on "view all images" to see the pics...I think!!

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Thursday, May 8, 2008

We Go Way Back

Ok, people. I don't know about you, but I'm ready to revamp the "tagged" post I keep seeing. I've really enjoyed reading all your top 5's, but now it's time to change it up a little. Spice it up, if you will. Give it some umph. And I'm taking it upon myself to do so. Now then, as I stalk all of your blogs and try to come up with one common thread it seems that most of the blogs I'm drawn to are people I know from Auburn. And if I didn't know you personally, I knew you because you were a friend of a friend. Or a friend of a friend of a friend. And if that's really not the case, I 'know" you because I'm obsessive when it comes to blogs and I read about you just for fun. I can make myself feel at ease about being so interested in the lives of people I've never met because I know everyone single one of you out there do it to! Since, like I said, most of us in the blogging circle have Auburn in common, it only seems fitting to play tag Auburn style. Auburn was/is one of the greatest loves of my life. And although I don't get back there as much as I'd like, my four years there were something so remarkable that any describing I could do would hardly do it justice. It's in my blood. It runs through my veins. It always has and it always will, no matter how many years have passed since I was there. There's no feeling in the world like driving up I-85 knowing you're about to enter the Loveliest Village on the Plains....like one of my old Successfully Orienting Students t-shirts says (that I still wear with pride)...."where the tiger roars and the eagle soars and the Plainsmen ain't so plain". It's love. Deep love. Your heart pounds like it will come through your chest at the thought of it, and you know without a shadow of a doubt that it's the best place on Earth. And oh how thankful I am to have been a part of it! Since it's so fitting, I have to share some of my most favorite words (by David Housel)....

WHAT IS AUBURN?
What is Auburn?
Far be it from me to try to answer that question. There are as many definitions of Auburn as there are Auburn men and women.
It would be safe to say, however, that Auburn is much more than a football game.
It is much more than winning and losing.
It is a spirit. It is an attitude. It is a way of looking at life and at one another. It is, almost, a way of living. Unless you have experienced it, you will never know what it is; you will never understand it. Once you have experienced it, you will never be the same. A part of you will, forevermore, be an Auburn man or an Auburn woman.
-David Housel
If that doesn't get you going, I don't know what will! So....let's get this game going!
TOP 5 THINGS YOU LOVE ABOUT AUBURN:
1. No matter where you are and what you're doing, if you spot another Auburn fan you know you're family.
2. The words "WAR EAGLE"
3. The Auburn Creed
4. The Auburn Fight Song
5. EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!
TOP 5 THINGS YOU MISS/LOVED ABOUT BEING ON CAMPUS:
1. The Concourse and how you saw everyone you knew (freshman & sophomore year especially).
2. Hearing the fight song coming from the chimes at Samford Hall every day at noon.
3. Living on The Hill and opening my dorm room window to listen to the band practice during football season.
4. Being able to swipe the Tiger Club Card like it was my job
5. Seeing the eagle in its cage as you walked to class
TOP 5 PLACES YOU SPENT MOST OF YOUR TIME IN AUBURN:
1. The COB (College of Business)
2. Dorm M on The Hill freshman year
3. Hollifield Hall (Chi O dorm) Sophomore year
4. McKee house
5. Bodega patio!!
TOP 5 PLACES TO EAT YOU MISS MOST AT AUBURN:
1. Amsterdam Cafe...can still taste the turkey wraps and pasta salad as we speak
2. Mellow Mushroom...because the one in Auburn is the ONLY good one
3. Breezeway...grilled chicken fingers...MMMM!!
4. Traditions!!! Need I say more??
5. Niffer's...didn't really like the food but we sure had some good times there!
TOP 5 FAVORITE MEMORIES FROM AUBURN:
1. Graduation day...such an accomplishment, but so very bittersweet to be leaving Auburn
2. Rush, rush, and more rush! I would have majored in it had it been an option.
3. Living in The Cave on the Chi O hall
4. Chapter every Wednesday at 5:30...I dreaded it then, and now I'd give my right arm (and probably my left) to sit in that chapter room with everyone again!
5. Greek Sing 2002...I headed it up for Chi O and we WON! I can still remember every last move of that dance. My favorite practice was when I made everyone come to the McKee house at 10:00 one night for mandatory practice...in our driveway. Ah, those were the days...
***I had to keep going...sorry
6. Campaigning for Katie Morris for SGA President sophomore year...I was in charge of recruiting her escorts and Anna Kate was in charge of finding drivers and we got to know people we otherwise wouldn't have talked to....i.e. the time we took a Katie Morris for SGA President t-shirt to Ben Leard's house so he could wear it around campus, and the time we went to Supper Club for Pat McGee and got him to wear one on stage. I think it's safe to say that AK and I would have crawled across the state Alabama had she asked us to. We loved some Katie Morris, let me tell you!
7. Diane Dow doing "Down By The River" from SNL...random that I just thought of that!
8. 61's candlelight
9. I know I already listed rush, but senior year rush was the best...I still hold the "Bop Chair" title near and dear to my heart....good times
10. Walk For A Wish senior year...Elizabeth Stewart recruited me to help her and it was hard work, lots of fun, and something so worthwhile. I think that year Chi O was in the top 3 contributors for the Make A Wish Foundation for the year!!
TOP 5 FUN THINGS TO DO IN YOUR FREE TIME AT AUBURN:
1. Freshman and sophomore year laying out in Memory Garden...every girl you'd know would be out there and you weren't cool if you missed out....just kidding!
2. Ride around on Thursday nights during football season and get the early tailgaters fired up by leading them in chants, cheers, and Auburn football songs.
3. Shopping on College Street
4. Hanging out on the Hall doing absolutely nothing productive and having the best time doing it!
5. Drive by's!!!
TOP 5 FAVORITE FOOTBALL GAMES:
1. Auburn/Alabama sophomore year
2. Auburn/Florida senior year when we won and the goalposts came down!
3. Auburn/Georgia senior year in Athens...Anna Kate, Blazer, Erika, Cameron Headlee, and I piled in one car and listened to Michael Jackson anthems the whole way. That was the night Erika designed her own Kate Spade out of a styrofoam cooler...remember E?!
4. All the away games we went to...
5. Every home game the entire 4 years!
TOP 5 FAVORITE THINGS ABOUT AUBURN FOOTBALL GAMES:
1. Tiger Walk
2. The band taking the field before the game
3. The eagle flying....leaves me with tears every time!
4. Tommy Tuberville
5. Game Day Dogs (AK & 61 will appreciate this one)
*I really shouldn't have limited it to 5...
TOP 5 THINGS ABOUT AUBURN WE KNOW AS ALUMS THAT STUDENTS NOW DON'T KNOW (could be translated "you know you're old if you remember...."):
1. Dowdeli
2. The sweet old man at Traditions who tailored suits in the back of the deli
3. Tiger Card was only accepted on campus (we came along a few years too late)
4. School started in late September and we were on the quarter system
5. Rush consisted of more than 1 skit day, less than 2 philanthropy days, bids were distributed early morning on the steps of Terrell, and it was probably a lot more fun back then!
5 FELLOW AUBURN ALUMS I'M TAGGING (I'm picking 6 b/c I can!):
1. Darby
2. Erika
3. Jess
4. Tara Verdigets
5. Jennie Marie
6. Sarah Martin
Now, get to it girls because we all want to reminisce a little more!!

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Impromptu Photo Shoot

My hubby has been out of town since Wednesday for work (in Orlando, no less {the one place I've been dying to take the girls}) and is flying in tomorrow morning, so the past 4 days have been jam packed with motherly/sisterly love. It's been just us girls the entire time and we've made the most of it! This is an annual trip for Jonathan, and in the years past I've always had family come stay with us while he's gone or either we've packed up and gone to visit someone. This year I decided that we'd take full advantage of some down time and I'm so very glad we did. However, today was the last full day to ourselves and I had to get creative as to how to keep the kids entertained. You can only play babies, dollhouse, doctor, school, etc. so many times before you've got to change it up a little. So late this afternoon after a bike ride around the neighborhood, we rode a few street over to the rose garden and took a few (or 200) pictures. The only way this materialized was by promising Towns that if she cooperated we'd have a picnic there for dinner. She's entirely too busy to be still long enough for picture taking, and as you'll see in the pictures Cate's gotten that way as well. Therefore, I have very few good ones of her. Usually she's only happy if she's looking everywhere but the camera! The poor baby fell over today as she was sitting and playing in Towns' room and scratched her face, and she's very red-eyed because of her allergies. So please excuse how pitiful she looks! You can tell that her cooperation only lasted a short time before she decided she was done. Her patience wore thin pretty quickly due to lack of sleep today. I probably shouldn't have included some of the pictures of them showing their tempers, but I thought they were too funny not to share! Click here for the pics! Oh, can't forget to mention that Cate started crawling today!! It's the cutest thing I've ever seen! I LOVE that girl!!