Sentimental.....

Miss Maya Claire turns TWO next Sunday and I am already getting sentimental about it! Where did the past two years go? She is looking like such a big girl now.....So in honor of her approaching 2nd birthday I thought I would share her birth story!

We found out we were pregnant with Maya the day after Gracie turned one! It was a surprise and I was totally scared out of my mind. How was I ever going to mange two kids so close together in age??? The pregnancy wasn't near as eventful as my pregnancy with Gracie...thank goodness. I did have some random bouts of nausea and fatigue and unfortunately I did suffer some spotting like I did when I was pregnant with Gracie. Luckily my mom worked for my OB doctor and I was able to get ultrasounds to check on her. It ended up being placenta previa that eventually corrected itself. Matt was moving to Atlanta at the beginning of April and Gracie and I were staying in Memphis so that I could see my regular doctor since I loved him. So at my 15 week appt. we were able to find out the gender since we begged the doctor for an ultrasound since it would be the last appt. Matt would be able to go to with me. I wasn't surprised at all when they told me they were pretty sure it was a girl! I was excited! From then on the rest of the pregnancy was pretty much just exhausting! I had terrible pains and I felt huge. We decided to have a repeat c-section and scheduled it for Sept. 7th 2006 since Gracie's birthday is on 1/7 and Matt's birthday is on 11/7. Seven seems to be a good number in this family. I remember that we had to be at the hospital at 10am that morning. When I had Gracie it was an emergency c-section and I had already been in the hospital for almost 48 hours so I looked a mess. This time I showered and put on some make-up....I wanted to look good for surgery this time! ;) The c-section was extremely painful this go around. Maya was turned sideways and was up high so the nurse was practically jumping on my belly...and yes I could feel that part! I was crying because it hurt so darn bad. In the end of course it was worth it. Miss Maya came into the world screaming at 12:30pm! She was gorgeous and had a head full of dark black hair. You would never know that now! She weighed 7lb 5oz and was 20" long. She was a whole pound bigger and inch longer than her sister had been. She was PERFECT! Maya was such an easy baby which I was very thankful for since Gracie had been a very challenging baby. Maya still has a very laid back personality although she is very much the dare devil and I do see stitches or broken bones of some sort in our future! Our life is much richer with Maya in it and I am very blessed to be the mother of such beautiful little girls.

TODDLER.......Enough Said!

Oh my goodness....how can this child look so sweet and act so naughty??? Gracie is probably the whiniest child that I have ever met! I love that little girl to death but my goodness she tests my patience all day every day. She has always been my high maintenance, more demanding child and that doesn't seem to be changing. If you tell her NO to anything she practically has a major meltdown! AHHHHHHHHHHHH If anyone has any suggestions or words or wisdom then I am totally open to them before I yank all of my hair out! Tonight I had to take away her nighttime before bed movie because she threw a big fit when I asked her to clean her playroom. She proceeded to scream and cry during bath time and while I was putting them to bed. To make matters all that much harder she kept screaming..."I love you Mommy" in hopes that I would relent and put in her movie. I did hold my ground and the girls finally drifted off to sleep. Fingers crossed that tomorrow will be a better day for all of us!

Pre-School Orientation

Tonight I took the girls to their Pre-School orientation. Gracie went to Prince of Peace last year and we were so pleased with the amazing Christian environment. She learned so much and began talking up a storm (at least to us!) She is still super shy but that is just her personality. Maya was able to go with Gracie to the little summer camp that they had for 2 weeks at the beginning of the summer and she really enjoyed it as well. Since we decided to take Maya out of tumbling my parents were gracious enough to help us pay to send Maya to pre-school as well. We had fun at first getting to see their classrooms etc. but before the actual parent orientation part began Gracie started telling me she wasn't feeling good and that she was going to throw up. So...after several trips to the bathroom I just decided it would be best to come home before she really did start throwing up. I packed them up in the car and headed home and just after we made the turn onto the main street Gracie started throwing up! Yuck! Anyway we are old pre-school pros from last year so we didn't really miss out on anything and now Gracie is resting comfortably on the couch.

Pretty Little Princesses

I just love having two girls! I am all about dressing them up and doing their hair! Gracie asks me every morning to put a bow in her hair and she just has to have shoes that match her outfit! ;) Here are a few recent pics of my cuties!

Crafty People

I have a wonderful and talented friend that I met through Etsy that has been so wonderful about creating custom polymer clay beads for me to use as bow centers. She is AWESOME with detail and I always get exactly what I had pictured. It amazes me how talented people are with specific crafts. I received a custom order from a woman the other day and she wrote a little note telling me how talented I was with making bows. I was for sure thankful for her comment. It made me feel good considering I know that I have come a long way from last July when I first started selling on Etsy. I have several other friends that I have met on Etsy that have been so awesome about making custom clothes for the girls and purses for me. Etsy is such a wonderful place to support those people that make handmade items. I totally enjoy sitting down and being creative with making bows and it makes me feel so great when people buy the bows and enjoy them.

For lots of amazing items check out my friends!
www.amalh.etsy.com
www.mommydawleys.etsy.com
www.babykaysboutique.etsy.com

Dora Pillowcase Top by MommyDawleys.etsy.com
Polymer Clay Beads by amalh.etsy.com

The Newest Member of our Family

Meet Tigger! She is a 3.5 yr. old standard chihuahua. She weighs about 6 pounds and is soooooo sweet! We had to give our puppy Lola to my parents because she was to big and to rambunctious for the kids. She would nip at them and knock them down and they hated it. My wonderful dad bought Tigger for the girls so that they would have a dog to love on and play with that wouldn't knock them down!

French Vanilla Coffee

I have been such a Starbucks Grande Java Chip fanatic....until my mom led me onto Quick Trip's French Vanilla Coffee! Oh my goodness it is so good and so much cheaper than Starbucks. I now have a new addiction! Luckily there is a Quick Trip only a few miles from my house.

This morning I made a trip to the post office to mail out some bow orders and then went to get a nice 24oz cup of French Vanilla Coffee! This is the life! ;)

The TODDLER Attitude

So as a mom of two toddlers I have seen my fair share of A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E! Miss Gracie is my reserved whiny child that likes to throw tantrums when it comes to just about anything especially when she does not get her way. Miss Maya is my dare devil and very expressive child. She rarely throws a tantrum but she has some very funny expressions and actions. Tonight we were on our way to her last tumble class (see entry below) and I was taking pictures because that is what I do! Apparently Miss Maya had enough of my paparazzi ways and she crossed her arms and hung her head and said "No Mommy!" I just thought the pictures were a perfect representation of her "Toddler Attitude" and they are just too cute!

Ta-Ta Tumble

Well....tumbling is officially out! I withdrew Maya from her class today. It was such a disappointment and let-down and honestly I am relieved to be done with it although she only went twice. I went in with every intention of dropping Maya off and leaving her today. As soon as we walked in she grabbed hold of me and wouldn't let go. She started screaming if I tried to put her down and neither of the teachers would come to try and get her interested in something else. The class is only 30 minutes and there were at least 8 two or three yr old girls in the class. So.....by the time Maya got up to the mat for her turn it was already almost 5:45 and the class ends at 6. RIDICULOUS! Maya would have only been able to go to the mat twice in the whole class. While waiting on her turn it was apparently my responsibility to keep her in her seat and not running around. Ya....anyone who has a two year old knows that is just not reasonable. I grabbed the girls and left early to go fill out the withdrawl slip and said bye to that place! The girls had a blast at their own private lesson with Mommy!! :)

Six Flags, Early Birthday Celebrations and Family Fun

Wow.....what a busy weekend we have had! Today was another long day but it was a ton of fun! We started the day by dropping the girls off with Nana and Mimi and then Dad, my brother James, Matthew and I went to Six Flags! It was a really nice day today. The weather wasn't too hot and the park wasn't crowded at all. Our first ride was the newest coaster Goliath and we were in the very front of the ride! It was FANTASTIC.....my favorite ride of the day with the Thunder River coming in second. We got to enjoy the typical theme park food.....nachos, ice cream, funnel cakes and fudge! Matthew and I bought the girls cute little stuffed Tweety Birds as souvenirs. After we were all tired out we headed home to get ready for an early birthday cookout. Since my brother can't be here for Maya's birthday in a few weeks and we won't see him on his 21st birthday at the end of Sept. we celebrated both birthdays early! My brother cooked some yummy steaks and burgers on the grill and my dad make some delicious homemade vanilla ice cream. After dinner we played some Rock Band on the Wii and then called it a night!!

Super Snap Clippies

Oh my gosh how I LOVE these new snap clips that I have added to my store!! They are so fantastic for holding back the girls bangs and they stay in so well. I can cover them with ribbon to match any color or theme. Halloween is right around the corner....I am about to order another set of clips so that I can make more for the girls. I do have some currently listed at my store so check them out!

www.mamasgirlsbows.etsy.com

Family

My Mimi came down to visit with my brother this weekend and I am so glad that I have been able to spend time with both of them. I just really love these pics from tonight!

Take Me Out To The Ballgame

Last night my brother, Dad, Gracie, Matthew and I went to eat at The Varsity and see a Braves game at Turner Field. It has been awhile since I have gone to a Braves game but once we arrived that familiar rush of excitement hit me and of course the yummy smells of all the stadium food were fantastic. Gracie had a blast! She mostly enjoyed all of the little activities that they did and she loved doing the famous tomahawk chop. Between Matthew, Gracie and I we ended up getting a blue sno-cone, nachos, hot dog, coke and some yummy dippin dots!

Tumble!

Maya had her first tumbling class tonight and I was soooooo excited about it....until we got there. I have to say I am sort of let down and I am not sure right now if we are going to keep her in it. The teacher is in her 3rd trimester and has one helper. There are about 6 other little kids in the class with her and there was just NO structure at all. About 10 minutes into the class some of the kids started opening the door to the waiting area and Maya thought they were leaving so she started crying for me and the little class helper brought her to me!!! She didn't even try to get her interested in something else. So then I went out into the room with her and basically it was me trying to keep her on her "number" to wait her turn. It was just chaos. I am hoping it is just because it was the first class but I don't know I just have a pit of regret in my stomach about the situation. I am not sure she is going to get the "one on one" time and experience that I was hoping for.