Anyone, Anyone?

Anyone still out there?  We took a four month vacation to a tropical paradise and are just getting back home. I'm sure you believe that about as much as you believe that I will ever catch up on everything we've been doing the past few months.  Here goes...

Since we last talked, Buggy turned five.  A whole hand.  I'm not sure if I can explain how much I love that girl.  She's feisty, sometimes too sassy, full of energy, and she wears me out by nightfall.  But y'all.  She's got the biggest heart, when she decides to do something she's going to do it 110%, and you're blessed if she loves you because when she loves, she loves.  She still can't get enough of babies and animals (or me, as she's hanging around my neck like a monkey all day, every day).  I suppose that will never change.  She already talks about the children she's going to have one day....when she's 40, of course, because she's not allowed to talk to boys until then.

The night before her birthday she dressed her Bitty Baby like this...

 

That just so happens to be one of the preemie outfits she wore just a few days after she came home from the hospital...

 

Talk about sentimental!  Goodness.  I'd give my right arm to make her a couple of days old so I can do the last five years again.  It's been such fun!

We kicked off her birthday celebrations with a surprise trip to Huntsville for Disney On Ice...

Absolute awe the entire time...

Her actual birthday started with pink and purple decorations (Doc McStuffins' signature colors) and presents...

Lots of Doc goodies were included, naturally!

For her birthday she got a "thluffy kitty" which is the one and only thing she asked for. We'd been to the animal shelter numerous times shopping around where we found several cute options, but we didn't find "the one" until the week before her birthday.  She fell in love with him but didn't know yours truly had slipped a payment over the counter to reserve him for September 24th.  I picked her up from school early that day and took her straight there.  She just thought we were going to look again.  Little did she know she was about to be the proud new owner of this fur ball...

I took her to the pet store where she took her motherly duties very serious...

Frazier didn't mind being wrapped up in a blanket or thrown on Cate's hip.  In fact, he seemed the happiest when she was babying him...

 
I can assure you no kitty has ever had such a good mommy...

Frazier went everywhere with us.
To the park...

To school...

And he occasionally made the trip to pick Towns up in the afternoons.  
Frazier was with us for a few months before he went on to a better place and we still cry about that almost every night.  I pinky promised her I'd find her another thluffy kitten just like Frazier, even though I don't know that that sweet little furry angel can ever be replaced.  He loved Cate like crazy.  Wherever she was, he was.
Sweet fluffy baby.

The weekend after her birthday we took a few friends with us to Build A Bear at Parkway Place...

It was a great time with sweet friends!

Next up was Halloween and Bethany's 17th birthday...a post for another day.

Minus a four month gap this time!

1st Day of Pre-K!

This is a couple of weeks late, but I'd be remiss not to blog about my baby's very last 1st day of preschool!

If anyone has a mind of their own, it's Cate.  She was very adamant that she didn't want a new backpack.  She didn't want to wear the dress I made for her first day.  She didn't need anyone walking her in to her classroom.  You get the idea.  We rolled with it on the backpack, but won on the dress and walking her in.  In six days she'll be five years old, and if this is any indication of the years ahead I need to get on my knees now.  I love her spunky self, but goodness.  She's something!

The week before she started, I took her to "meet the teacher" day...

 

She wore the same striped seersucker dress Towns wore exactly three years earlier when she went to meet the teachers of her Pre-K 4 class.  I'd give my right arm to be able to find the picture I took of Towns standing in that very spot in that very dress on that very day.

 

While she was getting acquainted with her teachers, she quickly informed them that she didn't think she really needed to go to school and she'd much rather just stay at home with her mommy.  I encouraged her to be open minded all the while thinking that I was 100% on her side.  Technically, this is our bonus year together since she's got a September birthday and has to wait another year to start kindergarten.  I've never been so thankful for a September birthday in all my life because if I would have had to send her to big school this year, I'd still be a puddle of tears.  I don't want to send her anywhere.  Ever.  I want her on my hip because that's what makes my heart happy.  Hers too.

However, by the time September 5th rolled around she was ready...

Obviously.

And she trotted off across the street (sporting Towns' old backpack) to meet her friend Brock as soon as we pulled up to the church...

 

Cate and Brock are exactly one week apart.  That boy has my heart...

 

Cute. Sweet. Hilarious. He calls her his Cate Bug. Such a sweet friend! 

And the cherry on top is that he'll play a round of babies without skipping a beat if that's what Buggy wants to do.  He's been known to even play the baby and curl up in her lap.

It's hard to believe this is our last year getting a first day of school picture in front of this sign...

 

She's his #1 fan, by the way.  Pretty sure the feeling is mutual.  He was wearing the girly colored bracelet she made him like he'd never seen anything better in his life... 

 

After pictures, she grabbed her hand-me-down North Face and struck this pose...

 

And told her daddy and me that we could go.  She was fine.

Not so fast, Missy!

We weren't leaving and she knew it.

At least not without a couple more pictures...

 

She chose a seat at the blue table because it's Brock's favorite color...

One more picture of her before I left in tears...

 

I'm not sure I've recovered from that day.

And the fact that this time next week she'll be five is doing me in...

Back To School!

This morning these two loves started their Junior and 2nd grade years...

Last night before B went to bed she reminded us that this would be her next-to-the-last 1st day of school ever.  In high school, that is.  It's unreal to think that this time next year she'll be starting her last year here.  Of course, she's ready to say sayonara to Decatur and hello to college life, so that statement no doubt contained subliminal excitement!

While B was looking forward to her 1st day for that reason, Towns was looking forward to hers for a totally different reason.  She never wants it to end (or so she thinks at this age)!  Before bed she asked me to get out her "special pearls" and told me they'd be perfect for her first day of second grade...
She could hardly fall asleep at a decent hour because she just couldn't wait for this morning.  When she woke up at 6:30 on the dot without an alarm, she came running into our room at full speed, jumped into my arms, and exclaimed that it was finally the big day!

We got to school super early.  So early, in fact, that J accused me of making a "nerd" out of her for being the first one there.  I simply can't help myself.  I had to make sure we had enough time for all our "first" pictures - first time walking in as a 2nd grader, first time hanging the backpack up as a 2nd grader, first time sitting in the desk as a 2nd grader, etc.  And with the way she is these days, I surely wanted to get all those out of the way to avoid major embarrassment for her!
When we arrived at Ben Davis, her friend Conner greeted her with a great big smile...

Conner was sweet enough to snap this on my phone...
Right about then, she'd have loved to have a hole to crawl in.  Next year when she's at Leon Sheffield for 3rd grade I know there will be no picture like this unless it's taken before we ever get to school!

And naturally, we had to have a picture in this spot...

Towns and Emma are in different classes for the first time in their seven years of life.  There is major separation anxiety going on, but we weren't missing this photo op...

Cue the tears.  When we saw this angel of a woman, I nearly lost it...

Surely a year hasn't passed since we were taking that picture in her class.  Heaven help me.
We couldn't stay long. We had to move on down the hall to her new spot for the year...
I'll spare you the 457 other pictures I took of the whole process of getting situated in her classroom!
I can't leave out these, though...



 After a picture with Mrs. Davis we had to go...

Second grade it entirely different than first where we'd stand around and chit chat for 30 minutes.  They were ready to get down to business!
Cate and I went to the car and just sat.  I was physically unable to leave the parking lot.
Here's what I was thinking to myself:
Is it too early to get in carpool line?
(Along with: Hmmm, how long has it been since I've cleaned the inside of my car?)

All I have to say is that I'm chomping at the bit to get blondie and hear all about her first day.  I'm thinking a date to the ice cream shoppe is in order to do just that.  Right after I leave a treat in the form of a Starbucks gift card on sweet B's car so she can go straight to get a green tea and resume her after school ritual!
Goodness, I love these girls!!

JUG Summer Formal

I always love doing this post for a lot of reasons, one being because I absolutely love this time of year.  When the JUG Summer Formal rolls around, with it comes a welcomed change of season (well, almost), the beginning of school, and the start of a new "normal". Summer Formal - unlike its winter counterpart - is always pretty laid back.  B had a super cute date who knows how to have a good time, so we were all excited for her!  When she brought her dress home, we agreed that a huge necklace and fun heels had to be part of the mix.  After a trip to Bridge Street one day last week, we checked both off the list.
When she was all dressed and ready Saturday afternoon, I almost wanted to call the whole thing off because Lord knows it's hard to let her leave the house looking this pretty...

Cameras were flying left and right.  Half the pictures ended up on my phone, while half were taken with my real camera (it's not hard to tell the difference!)...

The running joke of the evening was whether or not J would tag along since he and B's date Cory ride motocross together and get along so well.  It's always hard to split them up, as crazy weird as that sounds.
But we did manage to separate them long enough to get a picture of the real couple together...

As sweet as Cory is, he better watch that hand!!

Not too long after, she was whisked away to her friend Julia's house for a couples dinner.
Thanks to Berek's mom Lucinda, I have a couple of group shots from Julia's...

Pretty girls!

While they were at dinner, the rest of the fam and I hit Ingalls Harbor for this...

Do you watch Duck Dynasty?  If not, I'm telling you right now you're missing out.  A&E hit the jackpot with the Robertsons.  It's by far our favorite show to watch around here.  It's so hard to find something we can all sit down and watch, but this one's a classic.  I know every Wednesday night when it's on I'm sure to laugh until I cry.  It's that funny.  So when J's friend Patrick called to ask if he could find him a black Suburban to use to pick Phil and Mrs. Kay up from the airport in, I chimed in and reminded him that I have one sitting in the driveway.  That went over like a lead balloon since they're all big time and have to have State Troopers drive them around.  Can't blame a girl for trying!  Long story short, J got them a car and Patrick ever so kindly gave us tickets to the big Ducks Unlimited event Saturday where the Duck Commander himself was there live and in person.  Along with his hilarious wife.  I mean, I was dying.  I didn't have it in me to stand in line for hours to meet him, but I didn't mind staring at him for a solid 20 minutes like a psycho stalker...
You would have though they'd brought in a Bo Jackson/Cam Newton duo by looking at the line outside that tent.  It was totally out of control and I loved every minute of it.  The night kept getting better and before we knew it, it was almost 8:00 and time to get to lead out and watch these two make their way down the "runway" as Cate called it...
How cute are they?!
It's always over way too quick for my liking, that's for sure.
And when it's all said and done, these two girls still think their Bebby is the best thing in the world...

B will kill me for that picture, but she was in such a hurry to get back to her friends I only had time to snap one.  There were definitely no redos in the equation!  Towns brought her little tiara in her purse because she said Bethany was the princess.  Bebs kindly put it on her head so the situation wouldn't result in tears!
Cate was extremely confused and was sure Bethany and Cory had gotten married.  I assured her that wasn't the case, but she did want her flowers to pretend like she was the flower girl...
By the time we got home that night, everything was left at the kitchen counter and we fell into bed...

Now B's enjoying her last week of summer at the beach with friends, and the girls and I are making the most of our last few days together.  Can't believe it's almost that time again!