The Weekend Before

Dear Abigail,

As you know, we have been patiently anticipating the arrival of your little sister each and every day. Last week, the doctor told Mommy that if Kate hadn't made her appearance by Monday, September 19th, then we would make her!! So that meant one last weekend to prepare for this new life as a family of four, and who better to help us prepare than Mimi! That's right, Mimi road up with Pic-pic (who had to do a little work on our house) and boy did you guys have a fun-filled weekend while Mommy and Daddy got last minute things together. Friday night we went to Mexican with the gang, and while we WILL go back one day, it might be a few weeks before we're able to, so this was a special 'last' Mexican for awhile. And boy did you kiddos have fun! You ran and ran and ran around in circles after dinner, saw a cricket, made a new friend and Ryan even saw a scary monster (and Mimi, too apparently!). We think it was a man carrying a potted plant, but we'll take Mimi and Ryan's word that it was a scary monster. On Saturday, Mimi took you and Ellie to go see Lion King in 3D!! We talked and talked about how you had to wear your sunglasses so you could see the movie and you had us convinced you were going to, but of course, you didn't - but Mimi did say the 2 of you were good and watched the entire movie!!

While you guys were having fun, Mommy and Daddy and Pic-pic watched a little football. Mommy got a little tired of sitting in a bar 9 1/2 months pregnant so she called to see where you guys were. I should have known...

That's right, you and Mimi have quite the ritual of going to Sweet CeCe's for ice cream, not to mention your preferences on toppings has increased in sugar level! You used to just want plain ice cream. Then strawberries. Then sprinkles. And apparently now you add Fruit Loops and sprinkles and M&Ms!!! I wish I could say 'What happens at Mimi's, stays at Mimi's" but I'm afraid that's not going to be the case!!!

On Sunday, Mimi decided to take you to the zoo, as she is under the impression that there will be no more zoo visits once Kate is here! She's crazy sometimes :)

Per Mimi, the zoo trip started off perfectly. The weather was great, animals were out and about and you guys were having a blast...

You rode the carousel...

And road it again...

And again...

You even fed the birds this time! Previously you had been a little leery of it all, but Mimi was able to convince you that it was neat! You told me you fed them milk!!

Oh, and this was a first - you got to watch the zookeeper feed the alligators! How awesome is that!

And you rode the train, too! See, fun filled day at the zoo...
Until the unthinkable happened. That's right, a person dressed as a bear showed up. And we ALL know that you don't mix well with people dressed up in costumes whether it be Elmo, a clown or this old stinkin' bear...
According to Mimi, in the simplest form, you freaked. Not surprising. Apparently you used your stroller as a shield and would NOT budge from it. Unfortunately, you guys were at the back of the zoo and could not get out without passing that old stinkin' bear! This presented quite the challenge for your Mimi. She didn't want to upset you, but she also knew you guys had to get out of there! So, she just took the plunge and just drove right on past him, giving him an evil eye to NOT come near you!!!!

This was apparently your defense mechanism, as well. You guys safely made it out of the zoo, but man alive you did not like that old stinkin' bear! Other than that little mishap, I'd say you had a pretty good weekend with Mimi. Next weekend will be different, no question - but we CANNOT WAIT!!!

Love you big sis!!!!!

Greek Festival and Football!

Dear Abigail,

This past weekend, we made our annual appearance at the Greek festival. Mommy totally forgot about it but Miss Leigh reminded us at the last second. Thank goodness, because we love it! Daddy picked you up early from school and took you to his work where you, as always, were impressive to his co-workers. And, apparently, you found a new favorite snack - peanut butter pretzel things! Someone gave you one (or maybe like 20) and Daddy found them at Publix, and well, to say the least, they are now a staple at our house!! I met you two at his work and we headed to the festival.

We headed straight to the jumpy house and low and behold, guess who was jumping away??? Ryan! You joined him and the 2 of you were able to jump for a long time, sometimes with other folks, but a lot of times with just the 2 of you! After the jumpy house, the two of you headed to the jumpy slide!!! You were supposed to only go 5 times, but I think you ended up going like 50!! Towards the end, you ended up going down your belly and just as we were getting off, someone told the ticket man that you are NOT supposed to do that!! Ha, they don't know who they are messin' with! But, we moved on to yet another jumpy thingy - this one was a caterpillar. After all the jumpiness, we headed to the playground for a little bit and then, out of nowhere, you wanted to ride the horses. Now, keep in mind, the second we walked towards those horses earlier, you got very nervous and insisted Daddy hold you. But, somehow you conquered your fear whether it be from those jumpy houses or the playground, or maybe Ryan pumped you up. Regardless, you were ready to ride. And so we did!

Daddy walked beside you, just in case you, I mean, the horse got a little spooked. But you did just fine!!

PS - i forgot the camera, so these pics are from my cell, which, well, is just not my camera... Oh well, live and learn :)

After the horse back riding, we needed to get some yummy food, and so we did!!! We ate with Ryan and his family and listened to lots of fun Greek music and soon after decided we needed some delicious Greek deserts!! Oh and you and Daddy played few games, one where you went fishing and caught a candy necklace. I'm not sure who enjoyed it more, you or Daddy.... All in all, a fun day at the festival!

On Saturday, we ran a few errands that morning and got things ready for the big game! Okay, it wasn't exactly a HUGE game, but it was the first game for me and Daddy to watch, so it was big to us! We made dip, got dressed in our orange, and of course, had a few friends over. Daddy even grilled out kabobs for us!!! Ryan and little bro Jake and his parents came over, and Miss EP brought Baby Grant for a little bit. You insisted I get this one toy out for Baby Grant to play with, but I think you played with it more than him! Mr. Jay and Uncle Jaybee were there too, but Ellie is with her Nona right now, so she couldn't make an appearance. You and Ryan had lots of fun while we watched lots of football. It was a perfect day outside, so ya'll spent some time out there...

Hmmmm... looks like you two were doing something you know you shouldn't have been doing... After lots of playing (including Ryan getting to jump in the trampoline!!), we called it a night. We had to rest because guess what tomorrow was? Another day of football... Welcome to fall my darling.

That's right, on Sunday, we headed over to Uncle Jaybee's to watch the Titans game. As expected, he went all out, including lots of balloons and this obnoxious blow up football player thing. I only say it's obnoxious because you would NOT go near it, and of course it was in the room that we were watching the game. You completely freaked out about it, as if it were a real giant or something. You had to be held if you came even close to it and there were moments of tears. To say the least, you and I spent a lot of time downstairs by ourselves... Finally we convinced Uncle Jaybee to be nice and turn the darn thing off and you joined us, but about that time Ryan woke from his nap and the 2 of you watched Rio (PS this is by far your new favorite movie!!!). I got to watch a little of the game, but we're going to have to work on getting you comfortable with blow up football players :)

Sunday afternoon was lazy, lazy, lazy - quite awesome if I do say so myself!

We're still waiting on your baby sister to make her appearance. Mimi is coming up this weekend with the hope that all will go down by Monday morning!!! Let's just wait and see - ha!!! I'm growing just as impatient as you :)

Love you big sis!!!

Sudden trip to Mimi's

Dear Abigail,

Last week, or well, I guess maybe 2 weeks ago, anyway, at some point in the past, Mimi decided to come up with Pic-pic, who was doing a little work on our house. They stayed for a couple days and when it was time to leave, Mimi, surprise surprise, requested you join her for a couple days - because you hadn't spent any time with her at all recently - yeah right! But, because Mimi's rather convincing, and because Mommy and Daddy had a few last minute things to get ready for Kate, we let you go. So off you went with Mimi and Pic-pic and your first stop was at the lake!!!! You surprised Clara Lee by showing up, too! You guys went out on the water both Saturday and Sunday and apparently had a grand ole time! (maybe Aunt Ash-ash will send pictures - maybe...)

Sunday, you headed to Mimi's house where the two of you had a ball. One day Mimi took you and Clara Lee to Chuck E Cheese. Now, apparently you had tons of fun in the beginning. Which we do have a few pictures to prove it...

But, as time went by, you became more aware of the strange mouse dancing on the stage, and, per Mimi, just went "Monkey Joe" crazy when he popped out to dance. She said you had seen him before, but for some reason, this time it clicked that he was scary and you could not be put down. Mimi said she had to carry you and get Clara Lee to help carry the other stuff because there was no going back in Chuck E Cheese!!! Daddy warned us - he knew you would wig out. But we thought maybe, just maybe, because it wasn't actually real, that you'd be okay. Wrong - one point for your dad no doubt. We will no be visiting Mr. Chuck anytime soon...

Don't worry - your mind got off that random mouse soon enough because you all celebrated Pic-pics birthday!

And Aunt G and John Michael came to play one day...

And you even convinced everyone to go to the park!!!!

I picked you up Thursday morning and I think Mimi was a bit sad, to say the least. As if she's not going to see you (or any of her grandbabies) anytime soon!!! Nonetheless, you had a fun little visit with Mimi and soon enough she'll be back up here to see your new little sister!!!!

Happy 3rd Birthday!!! (Part 2-4 of 4)

Dear Abigail,

As I mentioned in the last post, you had 4 - that's right, FOUR - birthday celebrations!!! Now, before you start thinking this is the way we do things, let me explain... Because you had your birthday party in Munford (at Mimi's house), some of the Clark family wasn't able to attend (i.e. Aunt Amy, Papa and all that crew!) So, the day before your birthday (Sept 4th), we decided we'd get the family together and have a little birthday celebration. And, since Caroline's was just a few days after yours, we decided we'd knock two birds out with one stone! So on Sunday, we all headed over to Uncle Jaybee's house for what was supposed to be another water slide day, but mother nature decided to change things up a bit for us, as it rained and rained and rained all day long! But that's okay - it all worked out in the end. You kiddos really enjoyed playing with each other in the playroom and we all got to enjoy a little air conditioner for once!! We even had a sit down dinner at the dining room table, which was a nice change to our typical 'eat where ever you find an empty chair' outside party!

Here are some highlights of your second birthday party...

Well, this was actually before your birthday party. Mommy and Daddy were getting ready to leave and we asked you to sit on the couch and wait for us to finish up and when I walked down the stairs this is what I got!!!

You looked rather peaceful and we didn't really want to wake you, but it was your birthday party after all. Don't worry - you got your energy back the second you saw your cousins!!! And what fun you girls had. You got to open presents of course...

And there was a little singing going on...(PS - you made those cupcakes and had a special request for Minnie Mouse to be on top of them!)

And you even got to enjoy a little movie time before bed with your cousins!

Another great birthday celebration!!!!

The next day was your actual birthday and it happened to be Labor Day, so everyone was off work, including Daddy. So we couldn't just sit around the house on your actual birthday could we???? No way! First things first - give the birthday girl what she wants for breakfast. And guess what that was - not pancakes, not doughnuts - nope - bacon. That is flat out what you requested. You ARE your Daddy's little girl, no question about it...

You did squeeze in some chocolate milk (which would make you Mommy's girl) but about half way through you said "I don't like this" and requested white milk... Who knows with you. One minute you are licking the cupcake mix clean off the bowl, the next, denying chocolate milk and requesting bacon. You are your own girl, how about that?!!!

So after breakfast, we decided (with the help of mother nature yet again) that we needed to stay indoors, so we headed to the Science Museum!!! And, since your cousins were in town, we asked them to join us so we all headed to the museum...

Everyone seemed to have fun, not just the kiddos...

You and Ellie watched Harrison and Caroline walk on the moon...

Or hang out on the moon...
and rode in an ambulance...
or hung out in an ambulance...
Pushed a few thousand buttons...
Ran around and around and around...

And just had a grand ole time being scientific...

You and Daddy climbed to the top of the playground thing multiple times and even got Ellie to go down the big slide! We had tons of fun and before we knew it, it was WAY past lunch - so, per your request birthday girl, we went to eat pizza!!! After a delicious (and rather late) lunch, we said our goodbyes to everyone and headed home. As I've mentioned (and what seems to be the theme of your birthday this year), it rained and rained and rained all day long!!! And, when it rains that much, there is only one thing you can do - watch movies!!! Since we were all a little tired from the exciting day at the museum, we decided to throw in a movie. Unfortunately, you wanted the 'movies with all the birds'. So, Daddy, being the Daddy that is wrapped around your finger, decided he'd head out one more time in that rain and get you the 'movies with all the birds'. One last present, too, so he says... While Daddy was running to Target, you and I decided we needed one more cupcake, since it WAS your actual birthday and all. And, since someone has to sing to you when you eat a birthday cake, we called Mimi!!!! Mimi sang to you on the phone while we lit candles and blew them out, and then of course ate that cupcake up!!! Soon enough Daddy was back, and we all lounged on the couch and watched Rio. Some of us drifted off to sleep, while others ate popcorn for dinner. Soon enough, it was time to end your actual birthday and after a good 'wheels on the bus' song you were drifted off to sleep... Another great birthday celebration day!!!

But... never fear, my dear - you had ONE MORE celebration! That's right - school!!!! As I said earlier, your actual birthday was on Labor Day, which means no school, so, we had to celebrate your birthday with all your friends at school on Tuesday! And so we did!!! Mommy and Daddy both surprised you during reading and brought cupcakes for the whole class!!!!

Here's Miss Whitney reading to you - you didn't know we were there and as soon as I snapped that photo, the whole class turned around, some questioning where the lightening came from!!!

We all sang, yet again, Happy Birthday to you, and yet again, you thoroughly enjoyed the attention!!

And I'm pretty sure everyone enjoyed their cupcakes...

Here's Iris and her pink cupcake...

And oh Connor D - always a hoot!
And London let me know she liked her green one...
And you enjoyed your pink one - although you did a rather good job of keeping the icing in the mouth, vs. everywhere else!
Bryson didn't do so well with his icing!
And Addelyn, well, I think she enjoyed the cupcake for sure!!!! and had a little for later...

She and Brody were tied for first place in the "cupcake face" contest, no doubt!!!

I think your teachers weren't as thrilled that we brought in the brightest colored cupcakes we could find, but it's not about them, huh :) It's all about you and your 4 birthday parties!!!!!!! What a great way to celebrate turning 3 Abs!!! We love you and can't wait to see what your 4th year brings!!!!!

Happy Birthday!!!!