Happy New Year

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

So, there is this funny website that I like to visit to read totally off-the-wall cards. Here is a really funny one wishing everyone a very happy new year! No, I'm not on antidepressants, but I am really looking forward to a new year, new president, and new economy. I'm sick and tired of being broke all the time!

If you want to see more funny ass cards, the website is: http://www.someecards.com/

Christmas Day 2008

So, the holidays are over, but they were fun while they lasted! Sarah really enjoyed her 2nd Christmas, and this year even enjoyed ripping into the presents! These photos are from Christmas Day at the DeWeese's.

Yummy- chocolate cookie. Isn't Sarah adorable in her red Christmas dress?

This is Sarah's new favorite book-- an "I spy" Christmas themed book from Aunt Gerrie for St. Nicholas' day. She loves to find the items in the photos. This is her pointing at the items on the page. So stinkin' cute!

Mommy and Sarah playing on the stairs.

All these great gifts for Christmas, and what does Sarah choose to play with?......the bag it came in! Here she is playing peek-a-boo with the bag over her head. LOL!

Sarah coloring with her new markers and coloring book with Uncle Sean.

Looking at the photo book Aunt Suzie compiled from all Sarah's photos over the year. We would say, "Who is that?" and she would reply, "Sarah". She is so smart, already knowing her name!

Sarah's new favorite pasttime-- feeding the kitty treats! She does this with her kitty at home, too.

Gangster Daddy! (wearing his new hat and playing with cap guns)

Sarah playing with bubbles later on Christmas day. I like this picture because you can really see the bubbles in the photo very clearly.

The DeWeese's 40th Wedding Anniversary

This past Saturday was the wedding anniversary party that Suzie put together for the parent's 40th anniversary. What a milestone! I hope Stephen and I can make it that long! Anyway, it was a great party, very elegant, and very well planned. It was catered with a chef, and we all dined on filet mignon and jumbo prawn, among other delicious accompaniments.

Suzie sat all the "kids" at a table

A great photo of Suzie, Maureen, and Chrissy

Sarah and Me--it was a very long night. Sarah stayed up until almost 11pm!

Sarah stealing goodies off the appetizer table

Pee pee in the potty

This morning something wonderful happened - Sarah used the toilet for the first time ever! I am so proud of her!

Let me tell you how it happened: Since Friday, Sarah has been trying to pull off her diaper. She has mastered taking of her pants, but hadn't yet figured out how to remove the diaper. We had no idea why she was doing this, other than thinking she was trying to master her new skill of dressing/undressing herself (which we have been really working on for a couple of weeks). On Sunday, we were home with Sarah all day for the first time in many weeks. Twice, she took off her pants and diaper, and then proceeded to pee in the floor. We decided it was time for a potty. Last night, I bought two different potties-- one that just fits on the regular toilet, and a stand-alone potty. We tried using them last night, but she didn't ever pee, she just sat there. We kept talking it up about how you go pee pee in the potty, and how you wipe and then flush, etc. Sarah repeats all of the words like she knows exactly what we are saying. She gets excited about flushing the toilet paper down the toilet, and even says "Bye bye poopy". Its really cute (even if it sounds gross!)

This morning, after Sarah was dressed and ready to go to Ms. Gloria's, she started to take her pants down, and then pull off her diaper. I caught her in the midst and grabbed her up and rushed to the tiolet. I let her put the mini-potty seat on the tiolet, then sat her down and told her to go pee pee. She looked down between her legs for a minute, then actually peed! She had this strange look on her face, like she wasn't sure what she just did, but I clapped and made a big fuss about how she peed in the potty, and then coached her to wipe and throw the paper in the toilet. Once she was off and her pants were up, she flushed the toilet, and then we washed her hands. She was so proud! The whole time, I kept singing about what a good girl she was, and how she went pee pee in the potty for the first time. She kept saying "pee pee in the potty" and "good girl" over and over.

After all the fuss, we called daddy and she told her daddy that she used the potty. She was all smiles. We told Ms. Gloria, too, first thing when she opened the door. Talk about a proud little girl! Now, I cannot wait to see what happens tonight...hopefully she will use it again!

Shopping, Lights, and Saying Uncle Brad's Name

We had another busy weekend this weekend. So much for trying to clean house and keep up with the laundry, which is now 2 weeks overdue!

On saturday, Stephen went home to work on the tree farm, and Sarah and I headed out to do some Christmas shopping. First we went to Walmart, where, SURPRISE, Sarah was actually GOOD for mommy! Usually she is terrible there and will not sit in the buggy, and wants to get down and run away from me, but we've been really working on "hold mommy's hand", and to my delight, she is finally starting to get it. It's really stinkin' cute, too. Then, we headed to Bed, Bath and Beyond. Sarah fell asleep in the car on the way, so I just plucked her out of her carseat and laid her right down in the buggy--no pillow or anything. Can you believe she slept that way on the hard buggy for almost 40 minutes??? When we were done there, we went to Grandpa's house and took him to the grocery store, then came home for Sarah's 2nd nap. While Sarah slept, I took advantage of the free time to wrap some presents, actually all of the presents. Have you ever tried to wrap with an 18 month old, who wants to "help" by stealing your scissors, your tape, and walking and dancing on your crisp paper? Needless to say, I learned that wrapping and Sarah don't mix!--so it was nice to get it all done while she was sleeping.

About 6pm on Saturday, Aunt Becky, Uncle Matt, and cousin Jordan and Jennifer came over and we went to dinner and to the Lake Lanier Christmas Lights. Sarah seemed to enjoy the lights, but I really think she just enjoyed hanging out with her cousins, too. It was a late night and Sarah crashed hard on the drive back to the house. I still can't believe she stayed up until 10:30! I think that is the latest she has ever stayed up!

Sunday morning we went to Stephen's parents house for him to work on the tree farm and for Sarah to visit with her Aunt Jennie, who hardly ever gets to see Sarah. She had a full day of visiting aunts (and uncles) and Nana, and was a total stinker because she wouldn't fall asleep to take her nap. We had a wonderful 2nd Thanksgiving meal for Aunt Jennie, and then Stephen and I took Sarah home. Oh, forgot to mention--I have been working with Sarah on family names, and so we went around the table saying each person's name. When she got to uncle Brad, she plain as day said his name! He was really happy about it, but Suzie was so touched she started crying! It was really sweet.

We'll be heading back to the DeWeese farm this coming weekend for Stephen's parents 40th wedding anniversary party, hosted by Suzie and Chrissy. Its crazy to think that everyone has gotten to see Sarah now for 3 weekends in a row.

Thanksgiving Pics

Thanks to Suzie for taking the time to upload all the photos she took of Sarah on Thanksgiving and on tree-picking Sunday. There were a lot of pics and it took her a long time to upload them all for us, plus she is sick (thanks to Sarah), so I just wanted to say thanks so much!

This is Sarah when we first got to Suzie's on Thanksgiving, munching on cold McDonald's hashbrowns.

Sarah loves to climb onto chairs--here she is looking so serious! Isn't her red peacoat adorable?

Sarah did NOT want Mommy and Suzie to put her by the pumpkins AT ALL!

Sarita crashed out after playing all afternoon with the dogs and the family.

Sarah just learned how to blow her nose, and here she is telling Karch to blow and putting the tissue by his nose--so stinkin' cute!

Sarah LOVES doggies, but she likes Karch the best I think because he is so gentle and tolerant with her. Here she is giving Karch hugs and kisses before we leave.

Hunting For The Perfect Tree

As promised, here are some photos of us at the tree farm, picking out our Christmas tree. I also used some of these same photos for our Christmas cards.

Sarah and Mommy walking around the tree farm

Family Photos (the sun was totally in our eyes!)

Sarah fascinated with driving the truck!

Our little angel!

Family photos

So, on Thanksgiving we tried to take some pictures of everyone in the family. As you can see, Sarah wasn't being too cooperative. Here is a photo of Sarah with her cousins Jordan and Jennifer.

Busy Holiday

So our holiday was literally spent in the car--or truck. Poor Sarah, she slept more in her carseat than in her bed! Here is a recap of this weekend's activities:

On Thursday we headed to Stephen's family's for hanging out and thanksgiving dinner. We had a lot of fun, but Sarah woke up with a runny nose and cough and fever, so she was not in the best of moods all day. Plus, she really wore herself out playing with everyone and the dogs. She was too tired to even eat her turkey meal, and so we ate without her. I was totally bummed about that. But the food was excellent, we had 2 turkeys-one baked and one fried. Oh- and we didn't get our tree like we always do because the truck had a battery problem, so we had to drive my car and didn't want to carry the tree home on the top of the car. Also, we all got to meet Chrissy's new boyfriend, who it turns out is very nice and treats her very good. We are all thankful for that! When the day was over, we got home around 8pm and Sarah and I pretty much went straight to bed.

On Friday morning Sarah had to go to the pediatrician for her 18 month check-up and immunizations. She didn't get her immunizations, though, because she still had a low grade fever, so we'll have to go back for those sometime next week. But her doctor thought she was doing really well, and she passed all her developmental screenings. She even showed some advancement on some things. However, they were a little worried about her weight--she is 21 pounds and only in the 3%. She is 80% for her height. So, she is tall for her age, and very skinny. The doctor suggested still trying to get her to drink milk to put on some weight. Other than that, she thinks Sarah will "even out" some when she quits growing taller. But at least we don't have to worry about Sarah being obese, like so many kids you so nowadays.

After the pediatrician, we drove to pick up my dad and then to Becky's for our 2nd Thanksgiving dinner. I made a special Fruit tart for dessert, and it turned out so yummy! Everyone loved it! We didn't really hang out that long with my family because we wanted to get Daddy back home and then home ourselves. In all, we got home around 6pm, and at least had a little bit of time to clean up a little bit and get ready for Woody to come visit. Woody didn't end up arriving until 12 midnight!

Saturday morning we all woke up early and got ready to go to Athens for tailgating for the Georgia/Georgia Tech game. I drove all of us--Stephen, Sarah, Woody, and Woody's friend Jessica. We ended up getting there later than we wanted, but still had a little time to hang out before the game. It was raining pretty bad, but the good thing was that we were tailgating in the parking deck, so we all stayed dry. It was cold, but at least dry. I'll post some pics of us tailgating soon. Tim and Rebecca joined us tailgating for a little while, too, which was nice to see them when we weren't planning it. Sarah was in a terrible mood the whole time we were tailgating. Everyone had tickets for the game, so when kickoff time came, me and Sarah headed back home while everyone else went to the game. She slept the whole ride home, and for another 2 hours once we got home. She was tired!

Sunday morning we again drove back to the tree farm so Stephen could pick up and deliver the Trees for the Troops. We also had Suzie come and take our family photos of us getting our tree. We picked a small tree this year, because its going downstairs in the basement where the ceilings are much lower. I'm still debating about getting a bigger tree for upstairs. Anyway, we had another fun day of visiting with the family, and of getting home late. We barely had time to get the tree in the stand before it was again time for bed.

So, today when I get home I am going to decorate our tree. Sarah already had lots of fun helping mommy pull out the lights and decorations. I know she will enjoy decorating. And, its time for us to get back on our regular schedule. Sarah has been a real trooper these last couple of days, totally off schedule and out of her element. In all, I think she handled it really well. But she is the type of child who thrives on a schedule, so we'll be glad when our routine is back and her moods are more stable.

I'm Thankful for...

Since Monday I have been thinking about the things in my life that I am thankful for. All too often, we don't outwardly acknowledge our blessings, and we sometimes take life's little things for granted. Today, I wanted to just put in writing some of the things that keep me grounded when my world spins out of control...

1. A warm, loving, and stress-free home where we respect one another and maintain peace.
2. Sincere and caring friends, who honestly help me to be a better person.
3. A loving, smart, and beautiful child, inside and out.
4. A family that, although completely dysfunctional, tries to make the best of what God has given us to work with...
5. A (somewhat) secure job where I am respected for my knowledge, experience, and friendliness.
6. A supportive husband that has stuck by me in our lowest times, and continues to love me in spite of my flaws.

These are just some of the things for which I am thankful, as I have been thinking about them all week. Sure, I could list all the material things in my life that make everyday easier and more convenient, but somehow those things are not as important to me as the real "meat" of my life. Especially right now. So, what are you thankful for? Maybe you should start a list...

Bring on the rain!

So, this weekend I had some repairs done to my vehicle. It recieved an oil change, 4 new tires, new brakes, an alignment, and new windshield wipers. I knew all of these things needed to be done, I was just trying to put it off until we had some more money to work with. However, I had a huge fight with my mom about it friday morning, ending with me scheduling an appointment at the car place for the work to be done. Now, I'm actually looking forward to the rain today so I can test out my new Michelin Aqua-tread tires and $40 windshield wipers. I can totally tell a difference already in my vehicle's response and grip to the road, as well as the alignment so the car doesn't pull to the left anymore. This morning in traffic I liked slamming on my new brakes and feeling how well they stopped with no squealing. As you can tell, I take delight in the smallest insignificant things in life!

Our Thanksgiving Tree

So, Stephen's sister and brother-in-law have updated the tree farm website. They chose to put a picture of me, Stephen, and Sarah as the front of the "Tradition" section! We're famous now! Not really, but its funny anyway. The picture of our family is from last Thanksgiving Day. Our annual tradition is to eat Thanksgiving dinner, then head out back to the farm to pick out a Christmas tree before it gets dark. Then we go back to the house, eat dessert, and then travel back home to set up and decrate our tree. Stephen and I have done this ritual for as long as I can remember (and remember, we've been together for 14 years!). This past year was made even more special, because it was Sarah's first time ever helping to pick out a tree. :) We asked Suzie to take some photos, and ended up using the family photo as our Christmas card, which we are planning to do again this year. You all probably know I'm not one that is big on traditions or rituals, but this is one tradition I really enjoy. I love Christmas, I love Christmas trees, and in general I love this time of year.

If you want to check out the website, here it is. Please feel free to pass it on to anyone you know of in the area who might enjoy getting a fresh-cut tree from the farm!
http://www.sleepyhollowtrees.com/

Tailgating pics

A few weeks ago we were invited to go tailgating with one of Stephen's coworkers. At first we were hesitant about it, but we went and ended up having a great time. Here are a few photos of the guys, and the kids playing...

Go Dawgs!

I love this photo and the wind blowing the kids!

We're going tailgating again in a few weeks for the Georgia-Georgia Tech game. I just hope it isn't too cold for the kids! This time, we'll make chili to keep us warm!

Family time for Sarah

So, this saturday Sarah got to see both sides of the family! She spent saturday morning and afternoon with the DeWeese's and then we headed to have dinner with my sister's family and mom. It was a tiring day, but Sarah seemed to enjoy every minute of it! My most favorite thing about this weekend was watching Sarah enjoy the outdoors. She loves walking in leaves and exploring outside. Here are some pics of her (taken by Aunt Suzie saturday afternoon). Sweet little girl!
Chrissy commented about how Sarah no longer looks or acts like a baby, and how she is such a "little girl" now! And its true!
This is Sarah exploring (I cannot figure out how to turn the photo-sorry!)

This is Sarah, totally exhausted, and about to fall asleep in her chair after playing all morning and finishing lunch.

It's No Fun Having a Sick Baby

So, the past two weeks have been particularly hard for me and Sarah. Sarah has been sick, and I totally feel for her because I know she hasn't felt really good in over 2 weeks. She is such a joy when she feels good and is happy, but unfortunately she has had fevers, a cold, and now an ear infection (again). Poor thing went to the doctor twice last week, and going to the doctor for her is an ORDEAL! For some reason, she completely freaks out when the nurse wants to put the monitor on her big toe to get her heartbeat. When I say freaks out, I mean that literally. Its like she becomes posessed- she begins to scream at the top of her lungs, she writhes in my arms or on the table, and she literally loses all control with crying and screaming and writhing. It's so sad, and I try to reassure her but it doesn't matter. This last time, the nurse couldn't even get the reading, and gave up after 15 minutes of her freaking out. So sad! I kept asking him, "are you sure you need to get this reading?"...because I just couldn't stand to have Sarah get so upset over something to small. But at any rate, she is now taking medicine for the ear infection, and has begun to sleep a little better and feel a little better. She even played some this weekend when the Blakey boys came over for a visit. That's another funny story--Sarah had her first meltdown this weekend over someone playing with her toys. One the one hand, I kept telling myself that she is too young yet developmentally to understand the concept of sharing. I know this, and I do not expect this of her. But its very hard when you see the kids playing, and everytime Will moves to one of her toys, she starts to freak and cries and screams and tries to take the toy away from him. Its not even toys she is playing with. So, we had to deal with multiple meltdowns from her as she learned that sometimes other kids get to play with her toys. In all, though, I think she handled it well and did eventually let things go and let Will play with some of her toys. They even played together at some points, which was surprising, too, since she isn't there yet developmentally either.
I can't wait until Sarah (and me both) start to feel better and can take advantage of these nice cool days to have some fun. We've been wanting to take Sarah to the park now that its cooler, so I'm hoping she feels back to herself soon!

Tailgating and a sick baby

So, this saturday we were invited to tailgate for the Georgia-Tennessee game with one of Stephen's coworkers. We picked up Dusty and his son, Will, stopped and bought some food, and then headed to east campus for tailgating. At first we were a little unsure of what to expect, being our first time tailgating with this person, and hearing that they were tailgating in the parking deck, but it ended up being just great. The kids really had a good time wandering around, visiting other people, playing in the grass and leaves. We also had fun. We ended up leaving early because the kids really wore themselves out. They both fell asleep on the car ride back to Dusty's house. We stayed at Dusty's to watch the game, and the kids again played until they were just exhausted. Its fun for me to watch them all interact with each other. Robert, the baby, is walking already and so interested in following Sarah and Will and trying to copy what they do. Sarah and Will actually play well together, if you don't count not being able to take turns or share--which I don't hold against them since they aren't there developmentally yet. They are all the best of friends!

Sunday, we took Sarah to the park, where we noticed that she wasn't feeling quite like herself. She had a fever. This began my 2 days of staying home with sick Sarah, who was pathetic and crying for me and wanting to be held all the time. I don't mind, though. I know when I'm sick, I want my mommy, too. It wasn't until last night that she actually started feeling a little better. Its really sad to know that your baby is sick, and not being able to do anything to make her feel better. The doctor thinks she just has a virus of some sort, in her throat. She did a strep test (negative) and blood work, which came back with elevated counts, but that is to be expected with a virus. Poor baby Sarah! Because Sarah was sick, we missed a field trip with daycare to a pumpkin patch. We were really looking forward to it. Ms. Gloria said the kids had so much fun! I know Sarah would have had fun, too, but unfortunately she had to stay at home and miss it. I guess there is always next year!

Pics from Stone Mountain

Here is Sarah after she staked out a pumpkin her size to sit on.

Here is Sarah carrying a ball up the stairs to the slide in the Big Barn.

This is Jordan on the zipline at the SkyHike.

Jennifer and the Thee Little Pigs.

Us- The Happy DeWeese Family.

A great picture of Becky and Matt in front of the Dahlia garden at the Plantation.
Mom, me and Becky in the Dahlia garden.

The Pumpkin Festival at Stone Mountain Park

[Pictures coming soon...]

This Saturday for Jordan's birthday we went to the pumpkin festival at Stone Mountain Park. It was me, Stephen and Sarah, plus Grandma, Aunt Becky, Uncle Matt and cousins Jordan and Jennifer. It was very fun! We met around lunchtime and had a picnic lunch in one of the picnic areas. Then we headed to the Crossroads area for the festival. Jordan had fun on the zipline at Skyhike, but was too afraid to do the three-story skyhike. Plus, it took way too long- like 1.5 hours! We took some photos in the pumpkin patch and then went to the Big Barn, which is an interactive ball area for the kids. They had areas with slides and tunnels for the little kiddies (like Sarah). There are three levels, and on each level there are all sorts of things to do with these foam balls that are everywhere--you can sort them into tubes, you can shoot them out of guns, you can collect them in bags to throw at each other, and then there were these machines of all sorts that took the balls and did different things with them. Some of them worked like a dump truck, others sucked up the balls and then made them fall from the sky. It was very fun! Sarah had so much fun running around collecting balls into her bag. She also enjoyed climbing on and playing on the slides and crawling through the tunnels. At first I thought she would be afraid of the longer tunnels where she couldn't see the other end, but she wasn't at all! She would crawl right in and through the whole tunnel!

After the Barn, we decided to head back to the cars for some snacks and then went to the Antebellum plantation. Sarah crashed out in the car and slept the whole time we walked through the campus of the plantation. While we walked, Becky and I talked about how its been at least 15 years since I had visited Stone Mountain, and really not much had changed. At the plantation, we took some photos in front of a beautiful Dahlia garden, where some of the Dahlia's were bigger than dinner plates! So pretty.

After the plantation, we went back to the cars and drove to the Crossroads area for dinner. We ate at this restaurant called Mrs. Katie's Southern Cooking. This place has delicious warm yeast rolls that they throw to you, and you have to catch it to eat it. The funniest thing happened as we were eating our dinner--the table started to rise slowly. It was so subtle, but none of us could figure out what was going on! It was a trick table! We had quite a laugh as our plates rose up above our heads! Actually, the whole dining room was laughing at our table.

The last thing we did was ride the train. This was Sarah's first experience with a train. She was very interested in it each time we saw it pass, and we would all wave at the riders on the train. When it came out turn to ride, Sarah loved sitting on the cart and looking at the people and mountain go by. We waved each time we passed people walking. It was only about a 20 minute train ride. Jennifer almost fell asleep on the train she was so tired!

After the train, we decided not to stay for the laser show. The kids were totally worn out from all the walking and playing. Actually, the adults were too! Plus, we were reminded about the type of people that come to the laser show-its totally white trash! That much has not changed since visiting the show 15 years ago! In all, we had a really fun day and Jordan enjoyed his birthday.

First post--weekend with Aunts and Nana

This past weekend was mine and Stephen's 7 year wedding anniversary, so we asked Aunt Suzie, Aunt Chrissy and Nana to come visit and babysit Sarah. They came friday night and stayed through saturday night. Friday night Suzie took some adorable pics of Sarah playing with her zebra and kitchen. This is one of my favorites because it really shows Sarah's personality--she is showing off and posing for the camera!

On saturday, Stephen and I went to the mountains to check out some new camping places, and while we were gone Aunt Suzie and Nana took Sarah to the park by our house. Sarah loves the park! She especially enjoys swinging--

This photo is really cute- it shows Sarah's shadow. It also shows how big Sarah is getting, and how she totally looks like a toddler now instead of a baby. What a big girl!