Valentine's Day

Dear Abigail,

Monday was Valentine's Day and you had your first Valentine's party at school! You got to eat lots of yummy snacks and pass out valentine's to all your friends and Mommy and Daddy got to join you!!!

Your 'mailbox' you made for all your valentine's:

Here's you and Adelyn, your BFF:
And you and Brody:

After school, we headed home. Now, Mommy and Daddy don't get too into the hype of Valentine's Day, but we do typically like to take the day to do something we normally wouldn't do, or should I say, normally wouldn't eat. For example, a couple years ago, we decided to make Indian food, but 3 hours and $80 later, we realized that we could have just gone to the restaurant for 1/2 the cost and none of the labor. So the next year, we decided to go to the restaurant. But you may recall that you were in a 'stage' and well, were not too good at the restaurant causing Mommy and Daddy to eat their valentine's day dinner separately. SO, this year, I suggested we get Indian take out. As we seem to only eat Indian once a year, I was CRAVING it, so Indian take out was the plan. But, your Daddy wasn't feeling it. Well, he wasn't feeling like driving to get the Indian, or rather, sitting in afternoon traffic just for Indian. So, we did the 2nd thing that we never do - ordered a pizza, but more importantly, ate it straight from the box!!! Mommy insists at dinner that the food be brought to the table, each item in separate dishes, places are set, napkins are folded and then we eat. So, for Valentine's Day, we went crazy and just straight up sat the pizza box on the table and ate!! And it was delicious - and an easy clean up!!

Oh, and you got a little something special for being Mommy and Daddy's valentine's!!!

I love you baby girl, Valentine's Day or not!!!!!

The Dentist

Dear Abigail,

I just wanted to tell you about your first visit to the dentist. I can't remember exactly when it was, I think last week maybe, or the week before, but that's not the point. The point is that you, my awesome 29 month old baby girl, were AWESOME!! I shouldn't be too surprised, though, as you do really well with brushing your teeth. You insist upon putting the toothpaste on the toothbrush yourself, and then you take a turn at brushing your teeth. Sometimes you get a bit distracted, but sometimes you go to town on those teeth! After you get a go, Mommy (or Daddy) get their go, and you open your mouth wide while we brush and brush 'all that candy out'. Then you say 'EEEEEEEE" and we get the front of those teeth. After spitting you, again, insist on brushing your tongue yourself, as well as putting more water on your toothbrush. Then we're done - such an ease free process compared to the horror stories I've heard from other parents. SO... I say all this to say that yes, I wasn't too surprised with your awesomeness at your first dentist appointment; however, you just never know. I don't mind brushing my teeth but I sure don't like going to the dentist!!!

So we got to the dentist, which PS is totally designed for children, including a TV playing Toy Story right above where you lay your head!!! The nurses were fantastic and let you see all the 'tools' used in your mouth and you just laid quietly, mouth wide open, for the nurse to clean them THEN floss them. Oh, at the beginning the nurse asked me which flavor of toothpaste you'd prefer and the choices were limited, including chocolate, marshmallow, and other sweet ones. I asked if she had any Cheeto flavored paste but she said no, so we went with a fruit, strawberry. I figured this wouldn't go over too well with you, as you really really don't like those sweet tastes, but at least you DO heart your strawberries. You did good at first, but then you got a little on the back of your tongue and started gagging, but after a little water (and the nurse wiping it off) you were right back down with your mouth wide open!! After brushing the dentist came in to examine you. Again, perfect. He counted your teeth and you have 20!! yowzers! And, drumroll please........ NO CAVITIES!! woo-hoo!!! The dentist office was so impressed with you, as was your momma! You got to pick a prize, got a new T-shirt AND got a new toothbrush with Belle on it!!!! You were super pleased! I hope the awesome trips to the dentist continue love!

Ellie is 2!!!! (and Aunt Steph turned something...)

Dear Abigail,

That's right! Back to back birthday parties!! Ellie turned 2 and we HAD to celebrate!!! And Ellie's party was right up your allie - Monkey themed!! Therefore you were allowed to climb on anything and everything! Okay, maybe not, but you still had so much fun. Aside from getting to see all your cousins, we got to each yummy monkey cupcakes and even drink Monkey milk - which, surprisingly you loved (and Mommy did not!). It tasted like bananas!!

You got to jump like crazy in the bouncy house and got to go 'bananas' in the playroom, but the most fun was by far was the dance off!! Uncle Jaybee set the Wii up and we ALL danced the night away!!! Words can't really do justice, and I'm not sure the pictures really do, but here's a glimpse in the fun night...

EVERYONE had so much fun, well minus Spencer and his Daddy who refused to dance, but all you kids just danced and danced and danced!! And then the Mommy's got their turn (to a Britney song, too!!!), and, well, Aunt Amy 'won' but we kind of let her since she's the oldest and all.

On Sunday, we met Aunt Steph and Ellie and Uncle Jaybee and all the Ings at the park! After lots of playing, and of course a hike up the 'mountain' we headed for some lunch at Zaxby's! We all went home and napped a little, just to join right back up to watch the Superbowl. You kiddos did pretty good, but you did really good when we decided to turn Nemo on! Soon enough it was bedtime and you got to do your favorite thing - sleep in your sleeping bag!!

Well, Wednesday was Ellie's official birthday party and Aunt Steph's was on Thursday, so while the guys were meeting up at their typical Wednesday night spot, all the girls and kiddos decided we'd get together for some pizza and more birthday cake! WELL, pretty much the worse day in the history of riding home from school happened. See, it all started about 3:30/4ish. Everyone kept saying it was going to snow, but that it wasn't going to be too much, so Mommy and Daddy didn't get too panicky about it all. Well, Aunt Steph called be a little before 4 saying that she was driving in the snow and was confident we weren't going to eat pizza. I decided to head on home, instead of heading to pick you up, and Daddy decided to go ahead and get you and head home. OH MY. That was at 4:08. You did not get home until 8:30 that night. Oh that's right. You and Daddy were stuck in traffic/snow for over 4 hours! At one point Daddy realized that this was going to take forever, so he pulled into a McD's to let you go the bathroom and grab some dinner, but still it was over 4 hours! At one point, toward the end, and less than a mile from the house, you kept saying you had to go potty over and over again. So, Daddy pulled over on the street (not that traffic was moving) and had to hold you up and try to let you go potty, right there in the freezing, snowy open air! You didn't, to say the least, and thankfully were home in 3o minutes, accident free! Your daddy did so good with you for those 4 hours, but I think he's convinced that you HAVE to learn how to wear head phones. I think he got a little tired of hearing "mermaid" sing!!

So, to say the least, pizza on Wednesday was canceled. On Thursday, everyone stayed home from school and work, even though the roads cleared up by noon. It was much needed and Ellie and Aunt Steph and Uncle Jaybee came over to hang out. We decided to give the pizza another go that night so we decided to meet at 5:30 (the mommies and the kiddos). Well, we get there right at 5:30 and Miss EP tells me that Aunt Steph and Ellie were pulling into the parking spot and Ellie threw up EVERYWHERE in the car!!! AHHHH!! So of course Ellie and Aunt Steph went straight home and did NOT join us for their birthday celebration. Well, we continued on with the eating pizza (at this point there was no turning back, and we were craving it!!!) and Ellie proceeded to get sick a couple more times. On Friday night, we all got together for Mexican minus Ellie and Aunt Steph, so another lost opportunity for birthday celebration and Saturday night everyone had plans, but finally, on Sunday, Daddy cooked a butt (yes, a butt) and the whole gang came over (minus Miss Leigh and Ryan) and we enjoyed BBQ and FINALLY got to sing Happy Birthday to Aunt Steph and Ellie!!!

Goodness it was an eventful week, and I didn't even expand on the shopping trip or more trips to the park!! (yes, the weather turned beautiful!). Anyway, Happy Birthday Aunt Steph and Ellie! You did such a good job singing to everyone, but just yesterday you told us that Today was your birthday. Poor baby, we've got a ways to go...

love you though!!!

Clara Lee is 2!!!

Dear Abigail,

This past weekend (okay, fine, I won't act like I did this timely. It has been 3 weeks since this happened...) so this past weekend Clara Lee turned 2!!! After gymnastics on Thursday, we headed into Memphis, and of course had to stop by Mimi's house first. We grabbed some dinner with Mimi and then headed off to Papa Rob's house. Papa Rob was SO excited to show us his new bedroom that he painted and fixed all up for me, or well, guests, so me, and then occasionally Grandaddy. Mommy was super excited because this meant you were sleeping in a different bedroom (i.e. bed) than Mommy! Woo-hoo!! I mean, ahhh, how sad :) We were both super impressed with the bedroom; however you were concerned with where your toys went, as the bedroom was previously the play room!

Friday was Clara Lee's actual birthday, and since Aunt Ash-ash was running last minute errands in Memphis for the big birthday party, we decided to join her (and Clara Lee and Mimi) AND we decided we'd take a pit stop at Build-a-bear!!

(this is your latest way of smiling. Mommy's not to crazy about it, but it does make me laugh, a little!)

Clara Lee is TWO!!!!!

You were excited, but I'm pretty sure Aunt Ash-ash and Mimi were the most excited. I'll have to tell you about a previous Build-a-bear experience with them!!

The 2 of you picked out a bear and then you had to bring it to life. CL didn't really care for the bringing it to life part, so you helped her with that. She did, however, kiss her bears heart and put it in, so she did officially bring it to life.

Then you had to give your bears a good bath...

And then it was time to pick out the outfits. Oh the outfits. There were tons and tons of choices. After much debate and many mind changes (from Mommy, not so much you!), we decided we'd go with a UT cheerleading outfit. Oh, and the name of your bear, like the brand name, was Bearemy (as in Jeremy, as in your dad), so we felt like a UT outfit was only appropriate. So THEN we had to register the bear, and make it official that you were the Mommy of this new bear, and of course pick out a name. After getting a little help from Daddy, we went with AnnaBear Clark.

Finally it was official - you had a bear, and what a cute bear it was!

PS - did you notice the pigtails? We did that since it was CL's birthday. You LOVE having 2 ponytails, Mommy, however, not so much. But apparently it's because I'm not doing it right. Daddy says I need to take a pigtail class... anyway.

After the bears, we ran a few errands, had a quick lunch at Chick-fil-a where CL wouldn't play on the playground and you climbed to the top and started crying because you couldn't get down (this is the second time you have done this!). Thankfully some random nice man climbed up there and got you down. We decided it was time to head home after that!

Papa Rob ended up taking you to the park for a little bit while Mommy got things situated at home. We had a busy Saturday on our plates...

Saturday was Jack's birthday party! He had a super hero party at the Children's Museum, and man alive was it a blast! To start things off, the kiddos got their face painted, if they preferred. Most did not, including the birthday boy himself, but you my super hero, surprised us all and sat so still for the ladies putting on your make up!

After getting your 'mask' on and your cape, you had to get all loosened up, in order to go save the world, of course! You did such a good job following the leader...

You super heros were super flexible!! (PS - that's Sammy!)

After stretching, you did a few cardio exercises...

And then it was off to save the world, or well, at least learn how to save the world. You got to sit in a police car, both front and back. I'll prefer you to stick with the front, if you don't mind...

And you were a firefighter with Em!

And even rocked it out with some friends! (not sure how that's saving the world, but what fun it was!)

You drove a FedEx plane...

And danced danced danced!

And were a princess in distress...

And even got to grocery shop all on your own, including checking out and getting a receipt!! Jack's birthday party was so much fun!! And the fun continued! After the party, Mimi had a slumber party with her girls! That's right, you and Clara Lee and Em all spent the night at Mimi's house. I'm not sure how the sleeping arrangements all went down, but at some point, Mimi was in the guest bedroom with both you and Clara Lee while the toddler bed and big girl bed were empty, and Em was on the air mattress in the living room... I didn't ask!

Sunday was Clara Lee's big birthday party, and, again, what fun - oh, and how YUMMY! It was a Milk and Cookies birthday party. That's right, there were 7 different kinds of cookies, and oh how yummy they were! You, of course, didn't really care too much for the cookies, but don't worry, enough of the guests there did! You played for a little bit...

but then it was time to decorate cookies!!!! Each of you had your own special apron to put on and you all went to town!!!

(i'm not sure what's going on in this picture, but I'm sure you two were up to something...)

After the party, you got to hang around a little longer with Jack and Clara Lee. It was nice to watching you kiddos run around, burning off some of that sugar, which also included chasing a cat around the house!

After a little bit, Aunt Ash-ash realized we never sang "Happy Birthday" to Clara Lee!! So we called you all back in for one more round of sugar!!

But, as you can see, you didn't seem to care too much for it. Oh what is wrong with you!!!!

We stayed one last night at Mimi's and got up Monday morning and headed off... What a fun filled, birthday celebrating, awesome time with family weekend!! LOVE YOU!