Pratt Rocks!!!

He really does!! Last night I got called out shortly after dinner to go spend some time with a friend. I literally hung up the phone and kissed the family good-bye and walked out the door without much explanation as to where I was going or why. During the time that I was out, Pratt bathed both kids, washed all the dishes, lowered Shelby's mattress (we are trying to get her to sleep in panties at night), cut both kids hair, and cut his own hair (I didn't even ask him to do any of it). Some of you may be wondering how long I was gone, and it really wasn't too long...probably a little over 2 hours and he got all that done!!! Amazing, I know!!

Here are some pictures of JP's new hair do. Shelby was 3 before she got her first hair cut so it has been a little sad for me that JP is already getting his hair cut. To me it is like a right of passage from baby to childhood....sigh:( It is amazing what a hair cut can do. Shelby looks a little bit more sophisticated to me (that is probably because her hair doesn't look like she is some kind of wild child) and JP really does look older.

So Happy Together

A friend of ours recently asked Pratt if we high fived each other every morning when we get up because of how awesome our children are and that got me thinking about how truly wonderfully blessed we are to have our children. As any proud parent would say, I think that ours are the best. It also got me thinking about how often I take for granted these precious gifts from God and challenged me to be a better mother towards them and a better wife towards my husband. Isn't it amazing how one little comment can really change your outlook every morning?!?!?!?!

Anyway, on to the kiddos. They are great. One of my favorite things about them is how much they love playing together. It is great to listen to them talk and laugh together, and it is so much fun to see them playing and enjoying each other. Two days ago when JP woke up from his nap he wasn't ready to get out of the crib so Shelby brought him so toys and asked me to put her in there with him. I am telling you, they literally played in that crib together for 15 minutes!! It was great. I took that time to sit down for a few minutes and recuperate a little from our hectic weekend before starting dinner and just enjoy their sweetness. It was precious moments and times like these that will stick with me forever. Oh, another instance, we were at the playground the other day and I just love watching Shelby and JP on the swings. They get this distinctive sparkle in their eyes and they just laugh. It is amazing to watch them enjoy life so much. It really gives you a whole new perspective on what God must feel when he watches his children enjoying his creation in the manner that it was intended. Wow, what an amazing thought!!!

Our daily life has been very busy. We are definitely in full fall swing. Shelby loves, loves, loves school. JP is still adjusting to mornings without her. It is sweet to watch him search the house for her. You can just tell that his little mind is working so hard to figure out what is going on. CBS is going great. We are studying Genesis this year and it is just wonderful! We are learning way more than I could have ever imagined. Pratt is working so diligently and we are so proud of him.

In closing, here are two of my favorite pictures of the kiddos from the last few days. It just makes me so happy to see them together!

First day of School and other things

Hello everyone! Let's get caught up....so last week was Shelby's first week of practice school. She went everyday for the whole week and she had such a blast. By the time the weekend rolled around she was one tired tike, but even after all that she was still a ray of sunshine. Here are some pictures that she drew during her first week. One look and I wanted to laugh and cry at how adorable they were and it really made me realize how much she is growing up. No more little scribbles on a page, now she is drawing pictures!!!

I mean, she even gave her little heads necks. How cute is that!!!

Over the weekend my mom and dad kept the kids while Pratt and I went to the Clemson football game. We had great seats and a wonderful time hanging out with some of our friends. As an extra special surprise, we actually ran into some friends of ours from Atlanta at a restaurant. We hadn't seen them in 2 years and it was great to catch up with all that was going on. And that is all that I am going to say about that.....(those of you who watched the game understand why:(

Today was Shelby's first day of real school. Yesterday in preparation for her first day she and Daddy went shopping to by her first day of school outfit. Before they left I asked Shelby if JP and I could go with her and daddy; and her reply, "No. I need to spend some time just daddy and me." How could I argue with that???? So this morning went off pretty well. Here are the pictures from this morning....

Oh My Heavens

I have definitely fallen off of the blogging wagon. Most days I just can't get those creative juices going to write anything witty and funny to convey what has been going on in our lives; plus, every time I come upstairs I forget the camera.

Anyway, to give you a glimpse of what has been going on. Two weekends ago we went to the lake house because Uncle Jake was in town. We had a blast. Shelby, JP and I shared a room for the first time and I have to say that while the first night was just plain terrible, the second night was wonderful with both children sleeping somewhat peacefully through the night. Shelby slept with only a nightlight (usually she sleeps with the lamp on) and she was very good about being quiet so that JP wouldn't wake up. They also took naps together and that went great. It was wonderful to spend time with Uncle Jake. Shelby was his little shadow and I have the cutest picture of them holding hands in the parking lot (you will have to wait to see that as my camera is downstairs).

Last week we rested up from the weekend at the Lake house. Most of the week was spent hanging around the house and enjoying all the rainy days. It was nice that it rained because then you didn't feel like you "had" to get all those errands done. We had parent orientation at Shelby's school and got to meet her new teacher this year. Micki, a friend of mine since Montessori, and her son, Parker, were in town so we went to Hampton Lake for lunch and sometime on the playground. It was so much fun to catch up and to watch our children who are the age that we were when we first met play together on the playground. It was almost surreal to think that we were that old even though we really aren't that old. Meme had her 60th birthday; which I got to go to a wonderful brunch in her honor without the kiddos and it was so nice!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEME!!! WE LOVE YOU! Then Saturday night we had our annual Practice Tailgate Party. It was a great time.

Shelby and JP are growing up so fast (I know I say that all the time, but it is so true and I just can't get over it.) Today was Shelby's first day of practice school (aka-orientation). She goes all week this week from 8:30 to 11:30. She had a great day today and I could tell that she really enjoyed it!!

A couple of things:
JP is talking like crazy. For the most part you still can't understand what he is saying, but some things are very clear. He loves to tell us when it is raining..."It's raining" is what he says. He runs to the back door, points out and says, "It's raining." Then he runs to the front door and does the same thing. It is so cute.

Funny Shelby story: One day Shelby is probably going to want to kill me for telling this, but Sunday we went to Hampton Lake for lunch. It just wouldn't be a meal if Shelby didn't ask to go potty right when the food arrived, so as soon as the food got there Shelby asked to go potty. While she was going she decided that she needed privacy (a common request when she goes #2). So I put myself in the opposite corner facing the wall and told her that would have to do. Next thing I hear is her staining saying, "Oh my heavens, oh my heavens." (Just for all you out there who think she picked that up from someone in her family, I can assure you that is not the case!!!) After which I heard a little plop followed by "That was a big one!" Oh my gosh!! It took everything in me to not burst out into hysterical laughter.

That is about it, that I can remember right now.

Once Upon a Potty

Every week we try to make it to the library to return old books and pick out a few new books. Our typical visit goes something like this....

Get out of car.
Make sure that Shelby and JP don't get run over in the parking lot.
Climb up on brick wall and walk on it instead of the sidewalk.
Enter library.
Shelby places a few books in the return door and the JP puts the rest in.
Chase JP and Shelby down as they race to the children's section.
Run after JP telling him not to touch anything (he likes to pull all the books off of the shelves) while Shelby picks out a few books.
Corral kids to the check-out desk.
Wait anxiously and as patiently as possible while librarian checks out the books, usually taking her time.
Tell Shelby and JP to follow me out.
Climb up on brick wall and walk down to the end, jump off.
Make sure that Shelby and JP don't get run over in the parking lot.
Put kids in car.

Really, that isn't the whole point of the blog, but it was fun to type....anyway, in the midst of the chasing JP and protecting the library from a tornado, Shelby quietly and calmly walks amongst the shelves, picks out books, and puts them into our bag. I never really get to good of a look.

So fast forward to bedtime...Shelby is allowed to pick out two/three books to read and usually what ever books she picks out the first night with the new books are the books that we read every night for the rest of the week. She is going through her books and picks out Once Upon a Potty. I start reading the book and quickly figure out that this is the little boys version of the book. Thankfully the little light is on so it is very hard to see the pictures and I have become quite good at skipping pages without her knowing. I also make up words sometimes.

The next night I knew that she was going to want to read that book again so before I brought in the bag for her to pick her books from I took that book out and prayed that she wouldn't notice. Well, she did. She asked for and asked for it. I told her that I didn't know where the potty book was but that we would look for it tomorrow.

Of course she found it the next day and so from now until we make it to the library again I am going to be reading her that book every night.

Long Night

So, last night...by far one of the longest nights I have had since JP hit the one year mark. Yes, he still isn't sleeping through the night on a regular basis. We will have a few days of glorious sleep for 7 hours straight and then a night like last night. Pratt and I hit the sack around 10:00, by 12:30 I was up for the first go around with JP. Back in bed around 1:00. Up again around 3:15 and never went back to sleep after that. It was crazy!!! What am I to do??? We have already done the whole cry it out thing and I thought that worked, but well, who knows; it is like "they" say, "Every child is different." At about 5:30 I even tried to get JP to lie down with me and that I one of those rules that I really hate to even consider bending a little and that didn't even work. So by 6:00am JP and I made our way upstairs where I kept the lights off and he played in the dark until 6:30. Of course, by the time we got up and made our way to the pool this morning he was passed out in the car. Surprisingly he transferred into the stroller and slept for about 30-45 minutes while we were at the pool. Check out this picture.....

Shelby is really becoming quite the little fish. She spends more time with her face in the water than with it out. Thankfully while I was on my trip Pratt was able to get her to start wearing her goggles and now she loves them!!! She just swims around and looks at the pool floor. One of her favorite things from today was pretending to rescue daddy. He would sink to the bottom and she would jump in, grab his fingers and pull him up to safety. It was so cute to watch!!!

Bahamas '08

As most of you know, last week I went on my first girls trip in quite sometime. Myself and 4 other girls banded together and hit the Bahamas with style for 4 nights and I am sure that Atlantis will never be the same!! Can I just say that I had the best time ever!!! We danced the night away every night and spent the days out in the sun soaking up rays and drinking yummy girly drinks by the beach. Who could ask for more and it is definitely going to be a trip that we repeat again and again.

We left very early on Thursday morning...I was picked up at 4:15am. We were out on the beach by 3:30 with drinks in hand. You know, so much happened and we just had so much fun that I really don't know what to say.

Atlantis was AWESOME!!!!! The rooms were nice and the service was great. It was kind of expensive, but it was definitely worth every last penny!!! There was so much to do. Some of us had spa treatments, some of us swam with dolphins, we all braved the water slides, and some us hit the casino (I won $65 dollars on roulette!!!!). At night we had great food and then hit this little lounge/bar that had a dj and we danced past 1:00am every night. Also, I might add that we were the most beautiful girls there and every night had to fend off the men who were always shocked and dismayed when they found out that we were all married with children. Yeah....we still got it:)

Anyway, here are some pictures to get you drooling with envy over us!!

Erin and me...We went to get drinks after dinner at Cafe Martinique at an outdoor bar type place and all the sudden this huge dance party erupted on the street. A local told us that it was a mini version of this huge parade that they have to celebrate Johncanoe (it is supposed to be one word). It was amazing!!! Very ornate costumes and loud music.

Leslie, Britt, Erin, me and Amy. This is were we stayed while we were there. We were on the tenth floor and had an awesome view of the beach.

View from our room....it was beautiful!!

Leslie and Britt getting the party started at our nightly dancing spot.

On our second night we decided to really take over our dance spot, move some furniture around and have our own little catwalk. Amy is showing us all up with her sensational moves!!

Us just being silly!!