I GRADUATED!

Well, I am FINALLY finished. After 13 months of work I am now officially a "Specialist." I graduated and have my Specialist's in Education Administration and Supervision. Basically if I ever want to be a principal or assistant principal or have a "high up" county job I at least have the credentials to go for the job. Right now I am 100% content where I am at the level I am at and excited about job that is approaching in only 1 week- can you believe it- where did time go? What's great is I always knew after my Master's I would probably go on to further school. But now, I truly feel finished and don't feel like anymore school is looming. Clint has only not been dating/married to me not in school for 3 semester of our life. He is SO ready for me to be out of school.

Not too much new in the world of the girls. Natalie is PACI FREE. I have to give her credit. It was relatively uneventful. I decided to take it away one Tuesday morning after Clint and I had been discussing/dreading it for a couple of weeks. We took Melanie's away at 17 months and I wanted to have Natalie's gone by the time she started school. So, I just one morning didn't offer it again. From that point on, no biggie. She cried at nap, "paaaa" "paaaa" over and over- I played dumb. Then, at night she has been staying up about 1 1/2 hours later playing to wear her out but all in all no issue. She has a tiny bit self-soothing issue right now. She woke up one night around 2:30 crying, but not for anything. She didn't know how to get herself back to sleep without the paci. I rocked her for about 3 minutes and she was out. But, she has only woken up the one time. I think it was a great plan to get rid of the paci with both girls so early on b/c they can't argue or try to barter with me. They just understand oh well, it's gone.

Melanie is loving her new haircut and says she likes me to fix it in "a lean over." This means she just likes me to pull back one side out of her eyes. Clint didn't know and yesterday he told her he doesn't do lean overs. He caught her playing yesterday and she had all of the blocks around a cow and he asked what she was doing and she said building a "corral around the cow." I swear she picks up so much from TV as bad as that sounds. She told him she learned about corrals from Mickey. So, she's busted out "corral" "improvise" "hypothesis" and "produce stand" just to name a few.

Melanie's First Sleepover & Haircuts

Last week Melanie had her 1st sleepover with her BFF Caroline. She was sooooo excited. She stood by the door downstairs looking out the window waiting on Caroline's car to pull up. The girls took off upstairs and were perfect. Melanie thought it was so neat to have Caroline sitting at the dinner table with us and telling us stories. Then, after dinner we had a bit of drama. Caroline was a bit homesick, Natalie decided she wasn't so tired, and Melanie decided she didn't want to share all of the attention. But, a movie to the rescue. The girls all calmed down and were so sweet. We pulled Melanie's princess castle into her room and the girls slept in sleeping bags inside the princess castle.

This week has been preparation for back to school week. I am working on getting the girls on the schedule of their new school (which includes waking up early, napping right after lunch (11:30ish), and going to bed early). So far we are doing okay. They are not too sure why I am making a) Natalie stay up to wait for a later nap when she is tired and b) why I am making Melanie take a nap when she is not tired. But they are not fighting me too bad. And, of course I am got them some "back to school clothes" okay, maybe they were just "on a great sale clothes" but to justify them they are back to school clothes :) I met with the school last week and I am going back next week but all seems in place and I am getting more and more excited each day.

Yesterday I took the girls to get "back to school" haircuts. Natalie had 1/2 inch cut off and she screamed like her head was being cut off even though we gave her a lollipop and it took less than 3 minutes. Melanie really wanted short hair so I gave in and the back of hair is stacked and the front is kind of layered towards the front. Super cute. She was great and will probably be the cutest kid in her class :) J/K...well kind of!

I am ALMOST finished with grad school (Saturday is my last day) HOORAY HOOORAY HOORAY! I can't wait.

Running is going great. I am running short-average length runs during the week (3x) 2-4 miles and one long run on the weekend (5-6 miles) right now. Starting in August it gets harder b/c the training program sets a total number of miles to run during the week and steadily increases it to get you race ready. So far though, going well and I'm just trying to stay the course!

My Photo Album

Well, today I was able to have my girls day with Natalie b/c Melanie was at the Little Gym for a camp day (at her camp they learned about animals while doing gymnastics and a petting zoo came- what fun!). Natalie and I went to the Yellow River Game Ranch and then went to get icecream. It is amazing the behavior differences when they are together and seperate. They are amazing seperate- what a crazy plan they have worked up when they are together. Natalie's latest skill is words these days...here is her current list
1. mama 2. dada 3. no 4. more 5. bye bye 6. hi 7. ball 8. bubble 9. "b" box for juice box 10. "gn" drink (not sure how she got this sound but she uses it well) 11. a snort sound for pig 12. moo 13. nana 14. pawpaw 15. mamaw 16. pops 17. lolli for lollipop 18. pop for popcicle 19. "ni ni" for night night 20. "tada" 21. wow
She's getting better and better!
Okay the pics are from:
1 random reunion pic
Our 4th of July celebration at the Gwinnett Braves
The wedding
The Game Ranch

These are all from my camera more from other people's will appear :)

Fun Girl's Day

A sneak preview of the fun/funny wedding pics to come!

After gymnastics today the Gilbreath's wanted to take Natalie for a little bit of bonding time. I got to spend some alone time with Melanie with no agenda. We thought and thought what we wanted to do and it was decided on Ice Age 3- The Dawn of the Dinosaurs. And, to top off the fun apparently Carmike Cinemas have a "Stimulus Tuesday" where drinks and popcorn are only $1 each. So, in the spirit of healthy eating :) we each had a small popcorn and a drink (and much to Melanie's excitement it was Sprite- about her 5th ever in life- they didn't have Lemonade and she didn't seem to mind!) for lunch. She was great in the theatre- no complaints at all- she sat in my lap for a while b/c it was a concerted effort for her to keep the seat pushed down she is so tiny. I realized she was pretty much clueless about dinosaurs during the movie so we headed to Target and Borders for some dinosaur lesson reinforcements. We shopped sooooo slowly- it was amazing! We had no time frame. No one was crying, hungry, bored, no husband watching the clock at home, etc. Melanie would stay in Target all day (as would I!). We ended up getting 2 plastic dinosaurs ($1/each) and some clearance shoes for Melanie ($3 each b/c apparently in GA it is not hot anymore and the summer things are 75% off- whatever!). We played in purses (I got one- I think I am about ready to be FINISHED with diaper bags so it is a rather large purse to hold Puffs, diapers, wipes, change of clothes, toys, and oh yeah some lipstick, wallet, keys and phone), jewelry, sunglasses, shoes, baby supplies, books, EVERY toy aisle, kid clothes, dishes, just fun fun fun! But, they didn't really have any dinosaur books so we were off to Borders where it is oh so easy to get caught up and want to buy everything! We went to the kid section and we each had a task to find dinosaur books. We each found about 3 and we sat and reviewed them and each selected 1 to buy- too cute! We came home and played with our dinosaur figurines (which of course immediately became a mommy and daddy) and read dinosaur books- it's like I had a boy child for a couple of hours! All in all a great fun day!

Wow! What a Weekend!

Well, we survived. I know that is not the kindest way to talk about our best friend's wedding, but honestly that is how it feels. I feel like this wedding had a lot of "building up" planning and, well, we survived. To start with, Friday, Melanie (and by default, me) was invited to a Bridal Luncheon. Since Becca lives in Atlanta, all of the wedding festivities were in Atlanta. So, being the savvy driver that I am, I loaded up Melanie and Aileen for us to hit the road and make a road trip, well, okay, a down the road trip to Atlanta. To get 3 girls (one of which is 3 years old) ready for fanciness to be out the door by 10:00 am was a feat, but we made it, kind of, just a couple minutes off schedule. All would have been close to fine had we not gotten lost, and by gotten lost, meaning, we never even got off 285 for 85- ummm, problem. So, needless to say we were late to the luncheon by about 15 minutes. I need a GPS to be attached to my by a fanny pack for my whole life. Melanie was a little confused by the fanciness of a essentially a grown up tea party but she looked adorable (check out pics on Zach's and Grace's blog) and acted on her best behavior. Also, I got the most adorable cake/favor idea that I am going to use for Melanie's next birthday party.

Then, after a 1 hr 15 min drive to Atlanta, Aileen and I had to turn around and drive back. We then had Melanie come with us to get Aileen's jewelry for the events (by the way NY & Co had 50% off sale of the entire store last week- holy cow amazing! So we went there!) and off for girl beautification time. Melanie and I each got pedicures and Aileen got the works. Melanie was fascinated by an eyebrow wax, she didn't know they existed and wanted to know why someone needed to "cut their eyebrows." After that we frantically rushed home, so I could pack the dog's supplies/directions for our pet sitter for the weekend, and pack Natalie b/c we were dropping her off on Friday not to see her again until Sunday and I had to get me and Melanie ready for the rehearsal dinner. So, in a very quick 45 minutes we got all people and pets ready and we were off. I had to drop Natalie off at my parents for the night and deliver my dad info that he was to pass on to the babysitter he was going to have to leave her with next day. Then we continued on our 3rd hour of driving to Atlanta for the day. We went to the rehearsal which went well but not perfect for Mel, Zach and Grace (which made Rachel and I a bit nervous to say the least). Then off to Maggianos for the Rehearsal Dinner. Melanie did quite well there, it had been a VERY long day for her and it was quite late by the time we got home (11:00) and she had been in the car for over 4 hours of the day. So, we put her down and I went into list mode. I had to leave Clint a million lists of things to pack/bring b/c I had class on Saturday and I was just going to have to meet he and Melanie at the wedding.

So, Saturday morning started off VERY early (I had to wake up at 4:00 for class) but I made it to class just fine (I didn't ride with Elizabeth who is much better at directions than I am) and didn't fall asleep in class and we got out of class 15 minutes early which put me on the road a little early which I was VERY grateful for. My mom had kindly agreed to go with Clint to the hotel to get Melanie ready for pictures and make sure her hair was perfect. I made amazing time and got the hotel in less than 2 hours and we all went to the church. We got to the church right after 5:00 and Melanie looked SO CUTE!!! But, the wait began. It turned out that Mel, Zach and Grace were not actually in any of the pictures before hand. So, they just had to hang out for almost 2 hours in their fancy (but OH SO ADORABLE) clothes and not get wrinkled or eat or mess up their hair and be on "church behavior." Anyone with kids knows that this is not a cool task for kids. But, alas THEY WERE AMAZING!!!! I swear the kids could sense they were suppose to be kind of good and they were. They, yes, acted like 3 year olds but good 3 year olds! Then FINALLY it was time. The kids followed in a very attractive wedding party and did EXACTLY WHAT THEY WERE SUPPOSE TO. Rachel and I were in shock, they walked slow, quiet, and they smiled, all in all, PERFECT. (Also, they didn't try to talk to their dad's both of which were groomsmen) They sat relatively quiet for a full Catholic Mass wedding (which I was nervous about b/c we recently took Melanie to the contemporary service at our church and I only give her a B- for that). But, I give the kids an A-. They were not perfect but pretty close! TJ and Becca looked so attractive and had a very touching wedding where, now, it is official they are MARRIED!

So, then it was time for the reception. At this point I didn't care what happened and nor did Rachel. All Rachel and I wanted was a bottle of wine, and if I do say so myself she and I earned it for keeping these kids in line & organized for the past 48 hours! The kids had on cozy shoes, could eat whatever, act however, finally just be kids! It was the cutest most fun thing to watch them at the reception. They danced their tails off. Melanie requested "Put on ring on it" from the band but they didn't play it much to their dismay. Zach was quite the ladies man and Melanie was trying to cut in on Grace each time she tried to dance with him. We were all laughing, drinking, sweating, and dancing. Melanie cashed out I think around 10:15. The Gilbreath's were amazing and took her with them to spend the night at their house. Apparently she talked the whole way home and then stayed up a bit more when she got to their house but slept super late the next morning. Zach gave up not too much longer. However, Grace is going to be the life of the party. That girl danced up until the last dance (around 12:30 ish) and she really danced. It was so cute. All of us adults most definitely cut a rug. We had so much fun and you know if TJ is getting married dancing is going to be a main staple of the party- AWESOME! I have to give my parents and Clint's parents props- the reception was much easier having 6 adults to take care of Melanie rather than just me and Clint. I had so much fun with Ruth, Aileen, Tejal & Dawn we had quite the moves :)

Clint and I made it to the "after party" at the hotel where we about crashed. We hung out with Chris and Aileen for an hour or so and then I couldn't hang any longer. I had been up for almost 24 hours and was pooped.

So, Saturday morning (after a quick trip to oh so yummy and greasy Waffle House with Chris and Aileen) Clint and I played divide and conquer (since we had 2 cars up there) and made the final trip back from Atlanta to get the girls. Both got amazing reports. Natalie's babysitter had great things to say (THANK YOU Mary Evelyn!) and apparently Natalie loved Mary Evelyn's dad- too sweet! Melanie came home with a Little People flower girl set and wedding book from the Gilbreath's and all were in a great mood.

What a weekend! I will post pics at another time- I am tired of sitting at the computer. It was so fun but so crazy and I'm glad it will not be happening again any time soon!

Lazy & Busy Days of Summer

Well, we're puttin along loving summer and the freedom it brings and realizing how close to August we really are. We've had an enjoyable and fairly calm past couple of weeks. Clint and I went to TJ and Becca's Bachelor/ Bachelorette parties a couple of weekends ago. They were fun but exhausting. It was nice to get dressed up and go out on the town but I'm not going to lie- I missed Clint- but I checked he didn't miss me :) The next day we had mommy and daddy "recovery" day where we basically let the kids run wild while we laid on the couch consuming large quantities of food and water.

Natalie proceeded to get 2 new molars starting the day I picked her up from the parties. She was actually pretty pitiful with these teeth. Both of my girls have been awesome at teething and I haven't noticed any of them coming in until now but she whined around- drooled like crazy- was obsessed with her paci and lived on Motrin. It lasted about a week but it seems as if we are in the clear now.

During our free time the girls are actually kind of playing together. They love to make forts and lay on top of one another and of course play feed the baby, change the baby, put the baby to sleep. This generally lasts quite a long time (sometimes even long enough for me to fold and put away a load of laundry before I hear "moooooooom....Natalie hit me" or "aaaaaaaaahhhhhhh, no, no, no" (this is generally Natalie!).

For 4th of July Clint and I were kind of stumped as to what to do since Lawrenceville was not doing fireworks this year. We decided to take the girls to the GWinnett Braves Game where they were having fireworks at the end. They were all dressed up in their America clothes and looked so cute. Then the drama started. For about the 1st 45 minutes Natalie was TERRIBLE and I thought we would have to leave. She didn't want to sit which we were fine with- we could just walk around and play. However, we tried to feed her fries which she didn't want so I put ketchup on them which she proceeded to lick off and then throw the fry and then try to smear whatever ketchup was on her hand on us, her, Melanie, anything. I was starting to loose it when she had a complete and total meltdown where she wouldn't let me hold her and she was flailing on the concrete. Then she proceeded to get sunscreen in her eye which exacerbated the problem. I ended up taking her into the women's restroom for about 10 minute and just putting water on her face. The Gilbreath's had given each girl $5 and we bought them both Dip & Dots (which Melanie LOVED) and that totally calmed Natalie down. At this point she was calm enough to walk around with and we went in their air conditioned store multiple times and Melanie eventually picked a Chipper Jones jersey to buy. She LOVES him for some unknown reason (but, hey, he is better than my old Braves love- Lonnie Smith). Eventually we took the girls to walk the whole stadium and for Melanie to jump in their bouncy things in the berm. Finally it was time for the fireworks and they had the most AMAZING fireworks. They lasted 15-20 minutes and you were so close to them without any obstructions. Melanie thought they were wonderful and Natalie liked them for about the first 10 minutes and lost interest. It was a great end to July 4th and we will try it again next year when Natalie is older and hope for the best!

On a random note, I had a summer IEP meeting for a new little fellow I will be getting in the fall. It was at his house and he was oh so cute. But the cutest part- he was obsessed with pirate tattoos and put on a pirate ship/rose tattoo on my bicep before I left the meeting. He seems awesome and makes me so excited for my new job next year- I think it is going to be such a cool experience!