Archive for March, 2006

I took the kids to Memphis Monday because my mom was taking her kids there for Spring Break. We stayed until Wednesday afternoon, then made it back just in time for me to go to praise team practice. We got to spend some time with Granny and Meemaw and Grandaddy, as well as my family. Tuesday we went to Freeman Park in Bartlett, TN and ate lunch and let the kids play on the playground. They took a long walk around the entire park. I had to stay in the car most of the time, though, because Eliza slept the whole time we were there! Then we went to Wolfchase Mall to try to find a smaller size bridesmaid dress for Adrienne's wedding. The dresses are very pretty—they are blue-green and strapless. My mom has to alter one to fit Alayne because they only come in women's sizes starting at size 3. They could only find one size 3, and I have claimed it (the 5 was just too big for me!), so unless another size 3 is found, she will have to do some major alterations on the 5. Anyway, we didn't find a dress, but we had a pretty good time together at the mall. Wednesday, Mom and I left our kids at Meemaw and Grandaddy's house and went out to eat with my mom's 2 sisters for lunch. We had a great time!

Eliza finally said "Mama" for the first time yesterday! She has been saying "Dada" for a while now, but the other day she started putting her lips together and kind of making popping sounds when she opened her mouth, and now she is putting sounds with it. She also tries to say things like "hair", "cat", "dog", and "James" (it sounds like "adja", but she says it every time she sees him). She will be 9 months old in a couple of weeks! She is finally starting to sleep through the night again, and I am giving her new foods to try every now and then—she had baby food carrots last night. She's not crawling yet, but she does try to get on her hands and knees. She's changing so fast!

It was raining last Thursday as we were getting in the car to leave my Bible Study. An older lady came out of the church wearing a bright blue rain coat and a matching floppy-brimmed hat. James looked over at her getting in her car and asked, "What is that clown doing?" The funniest part about it is that she really is a funny lady! I told her about it when I saw her this week and she declared, "He saw right through me!"

We have been enjoying the warm weather the last few days. It was 86 degrees on Sunday! Last Friday we joined Jay at Petit Jean Mountain, where he had been at a work retreat. We ate a picnic lunch, went to see the waterfall, climbed on the rocks at the overlook, and took lots of pictures. On Sunday, we went to the Wye Mountain Daffodil Festival, where the daffodils were in full bloom. We got some great spring pictures, even though spring doesn't officially start until the 21st. It made for a full weekend, but a good one!

Not much has happened the last few days except for the typical mood swings of a 2 year old James. One day he will be a sweet, well-mannered, obedient child, and the next day he is stubborn, irrational, and irritable. What a roller-coaster! However, he is a very loving child, especially to Eliza. He told me the other day, "Her name is Eliza, but I can call her 'Eliza-beep' if I want to. She thinks that's funny!" (He really says "beep"—it's not just a place-holder for something else. I don't know where he got it; he just made it up.) In the car he pretends to sneeze—"Ah-choo!"—to make her laugh, and she cranes her neck as far as the harness will let her to look at him. They are quite a pair!

We went to a Chinese restaurant today with my parents for lunch, and they gave us all fortune cookies. I don't usually pay much attention to what they say, but I broke open James' for him and it was too perfect:

"No one knows what he can do until he tries."

That's James alright!