Adventures of the Patrick girls

Our first week with Beck

2012-02-28T05:54:00.003-08:00

It's hard to believe that our little man is 10 days old today! We have truly been loving every minute with this little guy....

At 10 days old, he has stolen the heart of many - especially the 3 Patrick girls. These two can not walk past him without giving him a big hug and a kiss (we're still working on not kissing him on the mouth or squeezing him too tight!) or asking to hold him or whispering "best boy in the world!" in his ear! To say they are in love is an understatement...

I am so proud of Beck's big sisters for how they have adjusted and how all of my pregnancy worries about the adjustment seem silly now! Rhodes, especially, has exceeded my expectations and does not like to leave Beck's side. (Ali is the same way, but I kind of expected her to be!) I'm not sure if it's the fact that this is my third child and I am more laid back, or that it is my last baby so I am clinging to every minute, or the bigger age difference this time - but, so far the adjustment from 2 to 3 babies has been a piece of cake compared to my adjustment from 1 to 2 which was incredibly hard. I have two little helpers (who sometimes like to help TOO much!) and am feeding him every 2 hours (sometimes 3 if I am lucky - with 2 hours of sleep in between!) during the night for 3o-45 minutes, but it just seems easier this go around. I'm okay with little sleep b/c I know it only lasts for a short period (and on the 2 days a week that both of my girls are in school maybe I can steal a quick catch up nap too!) and I sit there and hold him and wish time would stand still. Beck is sleeping a lot still during the day and makes for plenty of time to get household chores done...but I know those days are numbered! One week has already flown by too fast and with the amount this growing boy eats - he will be big before I know it. I am truly treasuring every single minute with my baby boy!

All of this being said - I have still had help most days - at least to run carpools, meals coming from wonderful friends through the beginning of April, and this week comes the true test of getting out and about with 3 kids....my opinions may soon change as I am trying to get the 4 of us out the door! Ryan starts teaching his night class tonight for the next six Tuesday nights so we won't see him until tomorrow - so this should be a true test for me! :) My expectations are low so we shall see! :)

I am thanking God every day for my new family of 5 - I feel so blessed that I just want to pinch myself and make sure it is all real! Life is good!

My boys

2012-02-24T11:13:00.002-08:00

Love these two!

Ryan has loved being a dad to our girls (and is a great one!), but I know he is also really excited about having a son. He went out the other day to buy Beck's bedding, some diaper changing pad covers (he had to go all the way to Bellini - not sure convenient!), and some Georgia Bulldawg gear all without me even having to ask! I think he is pretty excited about seeing some blue in our house. He is also already daydreaming about golf outings, Georgia games, and all things boy - and I am so happy that he has a little boy now to make these fun memories with!

Beck in the news!!

2012-02-23T14:46:00.000-08:00

Beck made the "Around Town" section of the paper this week...he is so excited! :) Read all the way down to the bottom to read about our little man...

Around Town: Marietta theater-lovers fear it may soon be curtains: THE DRAMA ISN’T CONFINED TO THE STAGE these days at downtown Marietta’s two premiere theaters. Around Town reported on Saturday that Theatre in the Square is in such dire financial straits that it...

Beck Stevens Patrick

2012-02-23T09:08:00.007-08:00

Last Saturday, early in the morning, a little man came into this world screaming and stole our hearts forever....There were lots of tears, screaming and cheers of happiness as we found out after 9 long months that this sweet little baby was our family's first son, grandson, brother, and nephew. His mama and daddy were in complete shock and it has taken a few days to get used to using the terms "he", "his", "buddy" (not princess - which was one of the first things I accidentally called him when trying to calm him down - hard to change that habit!), "brother" and "son". The joy we are feeling is so hard to even express - our family is complete with two little girls and one sweet new baby boy and we are so in love!
After baby Beck arrived and we had some time to keep checking on him to make sure it was really a boy...we had a few minutes to try to decide what we were going to call our new son and how we were going to tell our parents at 2 a.m. in the morning. We were debating between a few names - but since we really were convinced it was going to be a girl, we had not completely come to a conclusion on a boys name....deciding between two. We came up with the name Beck two days before after looking at Grandmommy's family tree on ancestry.com (so thankful for her good records to help us decide!) - it is Ryan's great-grandmother's maiden name. (Not after any kind of musician -which we have actually had people ask! ha!) His middle name is a family name of mine - I have always wanted to name a child after my dad and was thrilled that it worked out! We had our parents come in two at a time (grandmothers first - had to follow hospital rules!) and announced their new grandson. Beck immediately had a few more admirers....

After about an hour and a half of sleep (got to love that all of my babies come late in the night - and we don't get to our actual room until about 4 in the morning!)...two of his biggest fans came to the hospital in the morning (thanks to Aunt Ashley!) to find out if they had a new baby brother or sister and were instantly in love!

They both loved holding his hand and think they are his favorite since he always holds their hand when they are near him...
Especially this one.... She is smitten!

This one adores her baby brother too....

But, still likes to be our spunky baby girl and spent most of her time in the hospital hiding in the closet and cracking jokes....no more worries that she may feel like she has lost her place in the middle!

Uncle Sig and Frances, Aunt Ashley and Uncle Ty and Uncle Evan have all been by to meet their new nephew and love on him a little!

In his first few days of life, he has already brought us so much joy and we are looking forward to a world of cars and trucks, baseball and golf, longalls and shortalls and all little boy things! Diaper changes have already taken on a whole new level - but we wouldn't change it for a thing! I am cherishing these first days with my baby boy and so excited about the days, months and years ahead discovering this new world!

IT'S A BOY!!!!

2012-02-18T16:17:00.002-08:00

We really can't believe it! We are so shocked, so in love and thrilled beyond words to welcome Beck Stevens Patrick into our lives! He was truly the missing piece of our family and now we feel complete! He was born at 1:38 am on February 18th weighing 7 lbs 10 oz and is 20 inches long. He is just perfect and we just can't get enough of him! Delivery went pretty smoothly - I went from about 0 to 100 in no time and, although painful, I will never forget the moment or Ryan's facial expression as I saw him look at our new baby in shock/amazement and turn to me to announce/yell "It's a boy!!!". We both we screaming with excitement - I am so happy we decided to wait and find out b/c that moment was priceless and we are still in such shock. To tell you a secret (in case you didn't already know!), I really, really wanted a boy and of course I would have been thrilled either way with a healthy baby -but my heart is complete now knowing that Beck is here. So far, in his first 18 hours, he has been such an angel - spent most of the day/night sleeping and taking breaks to eat every once in awhile. He got circumcised today and the nurse came back amazed b/c she said it was the second baby she had ever seen that did not cry during circumcision! We think he is perfect and his sisters do too! Lots more to come on the new man in our lives - but just wanted to share a post of our excitement we are feeling right now! Welcome to this world Beck Stevens Patrick - you are so loved already!

The final hours....

2012-02-17T13:04:00.002-08:00

Today has been a fun, but weird day! So surreal knowing that in an hour and a half I will call the hospital to find out if there is room for me to come in and have a baby. I have spent the day with my girls and tried to soak in this time, knowing that our family is in for a big, exciting change in just a few hours! We got our nails done, went out to lunch and just had a fun girls day singing karaoke and playing dress-up. We picked up the girls "big sis" shirts that I had made and they were squealing with excitement - they can not wait to meet their little sister/brother and we all can not wait to find out what our final addition will be! Whenever I sit for a second and start thinking about it, it feels like Christmas! Every once in awhile, though, the nerves kick in and I am a mixture of ecstatic/nervous(about delivery)/anxious/overjoyed/sentimental - all kinds of emotions. Crazy to think that this time tomorrow, we will probably be a family of 5! Wish us luck!!

The date is set!

2012-02-13T10:56:00.000-08:00

Ryan and I were thrilled today to go in for our appointment and hear great news! While waiting in the waiting room, we discussed what we thought would happen. We always set our expectations too high only to come out disappointed - so, knowing that our due date is still a week away - we tried to go in with low expectations of when this baby would be getting here. Our guess was next Monday at the earliest. We were pleasantly surprised when we ran into Dr. Cauthen in the hall as soon as we walked back and she said she was going out of town on Sunday and said she needed deliver this baby before then - music to our ears! :) I know our faces just lit up! We went back for the appointment and everything looked great - still making a little progress (but, not much!) and still a chance the baby can make it's mind up and come before then - but Friday night sure would be perfect! I have been worried about figuring out childcare for Ali and Rhodes - and knowing this (and knowing that it is a weekend when grandparents are off work - plus, most are off on next Monday too - how perfect is that?) made me so thrilled! We are supposed to start calling Labor and Delivery Friday night at 5:30 and they can either tell us to come in right away or to just wait around and it could be 2/3 in the morning or even Saturday morning sometime! Who knows - but so glad to know there is an end in sight and we will get to meet our sweet bundle of joy (and find out if it is a boy or girl) in just a few short days no matter what! If anything changes, I will be sure to update!

We are ready!

2012-02-12T17:14:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow marks 39 weeks and we are all so excited and ready (well, I am sure I am the one that is the most ready - SO over being pregnant!)! Last week, the stomach bug hit our house and hit me last....I was so disappointed b/c, just my luck, it hit the night before/morning of my 38 week appointment. I had felt like it was Christmas Eve the night before....soo looking forward to my appointment and seeing if there were any updates...only to wake up a few hours later with the bug! Pregnancy hormones took over after I called the doctor and heard I would have to wait until the next week to find out if there were any updates....I had a minor breakdown! :) Truth be told - we had plenty left on our "to do" lists before the baby - so, even though I am slightly tired of being pregnant - I know this little baby will come when it is good and ready! Still one week til our due date and we have our bags packed, our house re-arranged and ready, all the baby essentials purchased (unless it's a boy - it may be wearing the same clothes for awhile...or a little pink! :)), etc. Today, the girls and I went to Build A Bear to build the new baby a present. Of course we came home with two new stuffed animals - a red Hello Kitty doll and a polka dotted bear! I tried to sway the girls to more gender neutral gifts, but these were their favorites! :) They had so much fun, but I am not so convinced that Rhodes knows that we will be giving the doll to the baby and not for her to keep! :)

Tonight, we finished off our day with a trip to Scalini's for their famous pregnancy inducing Eggplant Parmesan! :) It's never worked before, but I figured it was worth a try! :) Plus, being that this is my last pregnancy, I thought it would be fun to enjoy it one more time, guilt-free! I go in tomorrow for a 39 week appointment and am so curious to know if we'll schedule any induction or wait until the due date (the following week) to start talking about one. We shall see!

Valentines Daddy/Daughter Date Night - take 2!

2012-02-11T03:46:00.000-08:00

Ryan and the girls had another fun night out last night - this time to the first annual Daddy/Daughter dance at our church! Again, they were giddy with excitement (especially Ali...she loves getting primped and dressed up!) and so was their mama. :) One of my most special childhood memories is going to daddy/daughter dances with my dad - that took place in the same spot - our church's family life hall! I had pictures in my head of the girls taking turns dancing with their daddy and him throwing them up in the air like my dad used to do (and I used to feel sooo cool b/c he was definitely one of the tallest, if not the tallest there). Their version last night was a little different, but it looked like all three had a ball! Most of the pictures Ryan showed me were blurry shots of Rhodes in a conga line surrounded by big girls - and some with Ali, Rhodes and Libby either dancing or in the conga line together! :) Ryan said Rhodes didn't care who she was with - she just jumped right in the conga line! I love it! Their night was complete with corsages, a candy bar, pictures with daddy, El Ranchero with the Holles, and, of course, dancing! (their favorite thing to do!) They all had a ball!

Here are a few pre-dance photos....

Ali saying super cheese! (SO excited!)
Say Cheese - take 2!
Rhodesy posing for the camera!

Love this sweet face!
Sweet sisters ready for the ball!
Silly sisters!
Rhodes took a turn at being cameraman...
Waiting for their prince to arrive!! (he could not get there fast enough for these two!)
He made it! Ready for their big night out!
And a few actions shots....

Conga Line...

Rhodes dancing the night away (she came home bow-less)
Sweet sisters dancing!
Patrick/Holle dance circle!

It's hard to believe....

2012-02-10T07:33:00.000-08:00

That I just registered my baby girl for Kindergarten!!! Mamas of little ones - as cliche as it sounds - love these moments, they go by waaay too fast. I feel like I should be the one home with my first baby, not signing this sweet, smiling, light of my life up for Kindergarten! I am so, so excited for her and going to enjoy the excitement for now, before the reality sets in in 6 months and my baby girl takes her next big leap to Kindergarten! (I'm going to be a mess!!) I know this girl is going to do big things and I loved seeing her smiling face today skipping with excitement up to her next big school to get registered! She can't wait to be a West Side Stinger!! :)

Our family of 4...

2012-02-04T14:39:00.000-08:00

Just an update with some pictures of our latest Patrick happenings - just our little family of 4 enjoying life!

Rhodes has been taking swimming lessons on Saturday mornings. She likes it a lot better this time around - getting to go in all by herself. I am hoping to keep her in throughout the rest of Winter/Spring, in hopes that we can be spending lots of time at the pool this summer and I can feel a little more comfortable with 3 kids there! :) She is doing great and we are so proud of her!
Ali had Dr. Seuss day at school where they got to dress up like their favorite Dr. Seuss character and parade around the school. Poor Rhodes really wanted to dress up too - but she enjoyed watching her big sis parade around (I almost let her dress silly but it was picture day for her class so luckily I remembered in time!) Ali chose Cindy Lou Who and was so proud of her hair. She told everyone that her mama worked really hard on it! Ha! (I promise I didn't tell her to say that - I guess she could just tell my frustration from under my breath - trying to get her hair to stand straight up was quite the task!)
For some reason January is always quite the birthday party month in our house! We have made our rounds on our weekends and had lots of fun celebrating with fun friends! I found one picture of Rhodes with some of her friends at Lottie's 3rd birthday party - a princess party! It was precious!
These two make my world go round and I have felt so proud of them lately and what big girls they have turned into - I can't tell you how good it feels to catch them in the act of being nice to each other and playing together! They definitely have their moments (and lots of them) of getting on each other's nerves - but, I really feel like they are little best friends these days and nothing makes a mama prouder! :)

Father/Daughter Date Night #1

2012-02-04T14:06:00.000-08:00

I get giddy with excitement thinking about moments like these...daddy/daughter date nights. I don't know if it's the memories they bring back of special times with my own dad or the special memories that I know are being made, but I was so excited to sign the girls up for Chick-fil-a's Daddy/Daughter date night. The girls (especially Ali) were so excited about getting ready in their rooms where Daddy could not see them. They had their makeup done, hair curled (well, just Ali - Rhodes was in a hyper mood!), pearls on, and waited in their room for daddy to come "pick them up" for their big date. If only I had a video of the sweet giggles of excitement I was hearing as we heard him approaching their door. Sweet, sweet memories that I hope all three of them treasure always! :)

Can't wait for these three to get back so I can hear about their fun night out! Until then, I have my pjs on (it's 5 pm) and am catching up on some Real Housewives episodes - enjoying these quiet moments that I know will be few and far between (even more than they already are!) in the coming weeks/months/years! ;)

Proud Mama

2012-02-02T17:10:00.000-08:00

I don't feel like I have bragged on my big girls enough lately and want to remember these days and their fun little personalities. We've had progress reports lately...

Got a surprise one in the mail from Ali's ballet teacher....
And, we had January conferences for both of the girls and I was so proud of both of my girls....

(Funny thing - Ali only got a "Making progress" in numbers 11-20, but her teacher said she wasn't sure if Ali was just playing a trick on her or actually didn't know them b/c, when asked, she responded "I don't have to know these yet, since we haven't gone over them in class!" Not sure about that attitude (although I doubt it was attitude b/c Ali would never want to upset the teacher, my little pleaser!) - but, when I asked her later, she knew the numbers)
*Ali gets a little nervous during fire and tornado drills - she tends to worry (she is her mama's daughter!) and gets a little bit anxious! Sweet girl! :)

Rhodes also had a great report...her teacher said great things about her and all of the things that were not a perfect A were things I already knew and things her teacher said were completely normal especially for her age....she just had to put that my short attention span child does not 100% love circle time and prefers to sit on her head instead of her bottom, etc. :) Our little family comedian. :) I was so proud of both of my girls after their conferences and hope conferences are always so easy! (but know it will probably not always be that way - can't imagine that many get bad reports in preschool! :))
I have also been so proud of Ali and her eagerness to learn lately. She never ceases to amaze me and sometimes I wish we just had more time at home where I would actually sit down and work with her b/c she wants to learn so badly! Although the transition from no papi has been a great one, one of the only problems we have had is Rhodes coming in our room to sleep most nights. Not exactly a habit I want to start with a newborn coming in a few weeks....so it is something we have been trying to work on. I came in Ali's room the other night and found a note Ali had written to Rhodes to get her to stay in her room and not go to our room....
I realize all of these pictures are not very good, but this one says "No Go E to Mama aod Dada Room" (I was confused at first but she explained that she didn't know how to spell "going", but thought it sounding like it had an E in it, there for the "Go E"). I was pretty proud of my little pre-k girl for her attempt at writing a little sentence all on her own.

Even though I don't have any paper to prove it - I also have been so proud of Rhodes lately. She has been my baby for over 3 years now and I feel like I was not ready for her to grow up. :) After being so brave and giving up the papi (and never really mentioning it afterwards), aside from the getting up in the night and coming in to our bed to go right back to sleep some nights, she has handled it all so well. I feel like she has grown into such a big girl these past few weeks - her room has transitioned into a big girl room (the playroom is now the nursery/playroom :)), she has her own big girl bed, she talks non-stop all day (who knew we were missing out on so much with that silly thing in her mouth) and she loves to make her mama and daddy proud. She is such a genuine sweet girl - just with a little spunk and fun and stinker in her :) - and I am so proud of her for the big girl she has transitioned into these past few weeks. The meltdowns that we were going through right before we gave up the papi are no longer and I think she is going to be a great big sister - just like Ali! I am so proud of my girls and who they are growing to become - and love them so, so much! :)

Excited!

2012-02-02T16:40:00.001-08:00

I feel like all I have been blogging about lately is baby P #3 - but, his/her impending arrival is really starting to become real - and I am feeling overcome with excitement of meeting this little one and finding out if we will have a complete family with 3 little girls or 2 little girls and a little boy! It is going to be such a crazy/exciting moment to find out...after all this time!! :) The girls are getting really excited - Ali told me today that she doesn't want it to be a surprise anymore and she was ready to know what it is. I think the fact that we took dinner to two good friends tonight that just had babies (one girl and one boy) did the trick...she is SO excited! I just hope the excitement continues once the baby gets here and reality sets in. :) The past week and a half we have met 3 new January babies that will be baby P's boyfriend/girlfriend and it has gotten me so excited. They have all handled the transition so well and seem to be doing great and it really helps me to feel relaxed, excited and ready for our little one to get here!

This morning, I went in for my 37 week checkup and everything looked great. I am progressing along and Dr. Cauthen got me really excited in realizing that there is always a chance this baby could be here sooner than later - but, hopefully, it will stay put for at least another week. :) I plan to soak up this next week (or weeks) with my two little girls and enjoy our sweet time together. I know we will still get plenty of time once our newest addition, but things will definitely be different and a transition at first! Today, despite that it was February 2nd and Groundhog day, we had temperatures in the high 60s and it was gorgeous outside. I picked the girls up after lunch bunch and we headed to the square for ice cream and playtime on the train. Love my two girls so much and can't wait to see them as new big sisters soon!

A final peak!

2012-01-28T04:16:00.000-08:00

This past Thursday, we had our last sonogram! I was so excited to get one last sneak peak. Baby P weighed in at about 6 lbs 1 oz (so the ultrasound says!) and looked great! Best news of all (and main reason we got an extra sonogram) was that he/she was head down - woohoo! I was kind of in a state of panic as to what was going to happen if baby was still breech (and I had thought he/she was a few days before)....so relieved to know he/she flipped their head around. Dr. Cauthen said everything looked great and we have reached the point where the baby is safe to arrive at any time now...but, in case it is a boy, it is best to stay put for another two weeks as little boys sometimes get wimpy white boy syndrome if they come out too early. :) Of course, every day I wake up and have daily end of pregnancy aches and pains, I get afraid that this baby is coming sooner than later....partly b/c we are still not completely ready. Hoping to make more progress this weekend! I am already 2 cm dilated (not that that means anything), so now it is just time to wait and prepare....get the nursery ready, finalize the name, wash some baby clothes and get ready to meet this sweet baby!! I feel like we have made such progress with our family this past month for our newest addition and we are all so excited to meet our final family member! Can't believe how close we really are!!!

It's hard for me to believe that these are my last few days/weeks of being pregnant ever again! (Knock on wood! :)) It is an experience unlike any other and I have tried to enjoy every second of the sweet baby moves and kicks in my belly...crazy to think I will never have that feeling again after this little one is born...it is an amazing feeling! I always enjoyed being pregnant with my first two, but the growing big and tired this go around has been exhausting and so much harder with the older 2 to chase around. It's hard to feel like a great mom when I feel so tired and short with them sometimes - but I really try to give it my all and just suck it up, knowing that I will soon be dividing my time between three little ones and want them all to get the attention they deserve! :)

V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!

2012-01-14T05:14:00.000-08:00

I hope this is my last ranting blog for awhile - but, after my last 2 0r 3, I wanted to share that we are celebrating 1 week of a papi-free household. Hallelujah! :) It has definitely been an interesting week - it went a lot more smoothly than I expected, but Rhodes has had to learn how to soothe herself back to sleep on her own and that was hard at first. I was worried at first b/c the first 3-4 nights, we had a little visitor in our room and I was worried we were breaking one habit, but starting another - but, the last 4 nights have been wonderful! (with zero middle of the night visitors!) Knock on wood - but, I feel like we have won a huge battle here and I am soo excited!! We are spending this weekend (in between birthday parties) getting things ready for baby boy/girl Patrick and I can't wait to check some more things off of the list....so much to be thankful for in 2012 and we feel so blessed! Hopefully one of these days I will catch up on my Christmas blogs of my two favorite little girls! Happy MLK weekend!!

Six weeks to go!

2012-01-08T18:02:00.000-08:00

It's hard for me to believe that in just six weeks or less, we will be a complete family of 5! Now that we have dealt with our pacifier dilemma and a huge sense of relief has set in - I have started to get really, really excited about what is heading our way! I had been having issues with Rhodes loving being the baby of our family.....(I'd ask her if she thought the baby in my belly was a boy or a girl and she would say "No! I'm the baby!", etc etc!)...and I had mother's guilt worrying about her being sad about losing that position! The last thing I want is for her to ever feel like this baby is taking over her position or for her to get lost in the middle (but, I am a middle child - so we have that special bond!) - and for her to always know how much I adore her....and she was scaring me for awhile there, saying that she didn't want a baby - she was the baby! (but..note to future baby...this was all while we were saying "papis are for babies" to try to get her to get rid of that thing - so we were making things worse and she was clinging to being the baby!) But, I really feel like now both of the girls are SO excited and ready to meet their little brother/sister and it excites me so much! We took a family trip to Babies R Us on Saturday to get a few things on the never ending list - a stroller, nursing accessories, diapers, baby wash, etc. and then to A Room of their Own to look at bedding, etc (in case it's a boy - need to pick it out!!) and it all kind of hit home how close we are.

Last Tuesday, Ryan and I were excited to head to our 33 week appointment to have our last peek at the little bit. We had an ultrasound and saw that the calcium deposits were gone (hooray!!) and the baby looked great! We made it through without finding out and turned our heads when the ultrasound tech went looking below the waist! The ultrasound said the baby weighed about 4 lbs, 9 oz and we were thrilled to have such great news! The only possible problem is that - just my luck - the baby is currently breech! Yikes! Once we got in to the doctor, we discussed everything and she said that there is still time for the baby to move to the normal position, but if he/she doesn't - then one option is for her to move the baby manually from my belly. Ummm....really hoping this baby gets a move on, b/c I do not want to do that! She also mentioned that since this is my third and I have not had any issues in the past with deliveries - that it is possible to deliver the baby breech! Then, she looked at my charts and saw that I have big headed babies, so that idea was nixed. Praying this baby turns soon so we can rest assured that I can deliver normally, once again! ;) Another thing from this appointment is that my doctor KEPT accidentally saying "she" - I have no idea if she knows or not, but Ryan and I both left thinking that she knew and were convinced it is a girl! She kept reassuring us that she was just saying that since we have two girls and she really has no idea, but I just don't know! :) Can't wait to hold our baby girl or boy in less than 6 weeks!!

The first 48 hours...

2012-01-08T05:31:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that this is such a big life event that I feel compelled to blog some more about the papi....but it is! I'm sure you all have been on pins and needles waiting for an update as well! :) So, Friday morning, after my breakdown - I took the girls to my mom's house(sans papi) so I could go into the office for a little bit. This was when I broke down the entire way there (my eyes literally hurt all day after this breakdown..it was that bad!) and broke down a little to my mom when I got there. Rhodes saw me (Mother of the year here!) and we tried talking to her and talking about all of the "big girl" things she would get to do b/c we were saying goodbye to the papi. She is her Mama's daughter (and daddy's!) and does not want to see anyone hurt and I think it really got to her. (even though I am not proud of crying in front her - don't like to do that!) The girls stayed there for a few hours and then I took them to lunch at Chick-fil-a and to the bookstore (Barnes and Noble - their favorite!) to buy Rhodes a "Big Girl" gift for her to sleep with. I kept telling her how proud I was of her and implying we were giving up the papi that night - but not going into details for fear it would hit her hard and the meltdowns would begin. We finished our day/night with activities and dinner out and she went to bed that night -for the first time in probably 3 years - papi-less. She had a little bit of a hard time falling asleep (I checked on them at 8 pm and she was officially asleep) and didn't hear another peep from her until she came in our room at 6:30. (Pretty early for this house - but I will take it if that gets us through!) Day 2 was another fun day - took the girls to Catch Air and had a fun family day - unfortunately, there were several mentions of the papi, but I think they were just out of habit when she got tired for her nap (which we have also, unfortunately, skipped for 3 days - not ready to go there!) as the subject dropped before it even started. Last night was a sad night - she went to bed fine (after a few mentions after bedtime) and even looked for it a little bit, but I just tried to ignore/drop the subject before she got worked up and upset. She was so tired at bedtime that she fell right to sleep without it, but I put the monitor in their room and heard her wake up whimpering for it a few times -until, finally, she woke up so sad - bawling - and just missing it. Not crying for it or throwing a fit, but just kind of in mourning of her long lost papi friend. :) She came in my room and I held her tight and she laid down on me and calmed down almost immediately and that was it. I have to say I am SO proud of my littlest princess for how brave and strong she has been throughout this. Personally, I have a slightly addictive personality and I can't imagine how hard it is to give up something cold turkey that you have had every day for at least 3 years....and something that comforted you when you're sad and got you to sleep, etc. I am so so relieved, ecstatic and stress-free now that we have made such progress though - I didn't realize how much it had stressed me out and weighed me down lately and how much happier/loud and talkative/tantrum-free (well, maybe not free, but close!) our house has been the last 2.5 days! :) I know that this is not fully over, but I am so grateful for where we are now, compared to Friday! Rhodes is loving her new role as the "big girl" in our household and we are all feeling more and more excited by the day about our newest family addition coming in less than 6 weeks!!!

Breaking point

2012-01-06T13:46:00.000-08:00

I have a list a mile long in my head of "To dos" - including to get on here and blog about our fun Christmas and New Years holiday and our latest ultrasound for our sweet baby! Unfortunately, today will not be the day I check this off my list. Soon, I promise. Today, instead, I have other things on my mind that I have to get off! I have enjoyed having the girls home so much for the past two weeks and am so sad to see the holidays end. Well, sad and extremely happy/ready to get back to our routine, all in one. Monday was Ryan's last holiday day off and I loved updating our dry erase calendar with our January calendar and seeing such an empty calendar - breathing a sigh of relief! We have our architectural plans in for the house and had sub-contractors come by to price the house yesterday so hopefully sometime soon we will know for sure what we will be doing as far as moving/adding on/moving out for a little bit for renovations/etc. I have felt slightly overwhelmed at the thought of our newest addition being here before we know it, tax season being here and the possibility of an add-on - which comes with big decisions such as cabinets, flooring, what we can afford, who will sleep where, will we need to move out, what new furniture do we need to buy immediately so that everyone has a place to sleep/sit/etc. :) Top that with not knowing what this sweet baby is and what we may need if it is a boy or girl, etc - I am surprised that I have actually been more relaxed than I ever thought about all of this. Honestly, the only thing that overwhelms me is the possibility of truly being overwhelmed when everything really gets here (baby #3, tax season officially, renovations in full gear!) and knowing that I can only do so much now (when I have some time) to prepare for these big events! Phew! :) It is all overwhelming, but I think the excitement of it all outweighs the stress in the end - and I can not wait! :) I wouldn't be adding on to the house at this time if I thought it was something we couldn't handle or if it wasn't something I was completely ready and soo excited to do!! I will be sure to update soon once we know for sure what we are doing and a better idea of what the next few months may look like for us! :)

That all being said - I have had one major issue going on in our household that has to be taken care of immediately and that brought me to a full-on breakdown of tears this morning! My 3 1/4 year old and her papi. (pacifier) :) For something that makes life so much easier in the beginning - it has, over the years, become something I despise more than anything else in the world. I know she is too old for it - I know she HAS BEEN too old for it for awhile, but I have been too weak, too afraid of screaming nights (and a devastated little girl that I adore!), but I have finally reached my wit's end. Even though getting up during the night has been something I have been doing for awhile (thanks to pregnancy!) - this past week has been the pits. Every single night, I have had visitors (who always come to my side of the bed with their requests :) - they are Mama's girls...and I am so grateful for that - especially at 3:00 in the morning! :)) either due to nightmares, loss of papis, accidents or just because. Ugh! This is not what I need 6 weeks before I am meeting the newborn stage again! :) We have been talking about the papi fairy and giving the papi to the babies that need them for weeks - but, if anything, I think it has led our littlest princess to be more attached to the thing and has led to awful days filled with screaming, tantrums, and bawling - from the morning (until she gets sidetracked and forgets about it for a little bit) to the car rides and then from about 4-5:00 every afternoon (when she skips nap) - b/c I have tried to only let her have it at bedtime. (so then she wants to go to bed at 4...not happening). It has been all out hell. This morning, it started as soon as she woke up - and again when we got in the car and finally I just broke down and couldn't take it anymore. It is time for a visit from the papi fairy and to officially say goodbye! :) Now, I know this is so silly, but our child is addicted and we are dedicating our weekend to moving on to become an official big girl and I know this weekend going to be tough - but there is no turning back now. I know there are going to be tears - which are so hard for me to hear - and devastation and maybe some sleepless nights - but I am hoping that once we get through this, it will be smooth sailing until we are a family of 5! :) I can't imagine how ridiculous this may sound - but I also can't explain my child's addiction to this thing (it is bad!) and my worry about her feeling sad - so please pray that we make it through this weekend! :) After the week we have had, I am SOO excited for the light at the end of this tunnel and the happiness that lies ahead once this silly thing is gone! :)

Christmas spirit!

2011-12-22T05:20:00.000-08:00

My favorite day of the year has arrived and we couldn't be more excited!! Our house smells like a mix of Chex Mix and cookie dough - strawberry pretzel salad has been made for our Christmas Eve celebration tonight with my extended family and breakfast casserole is soaking in the fridge for tomorrow morning, Christmas music is blaring, the Elf on the Shelf movie is on TV right now and we are READY!! I needed one more dose of Christmas shopping so I just got back from a last minute shopping spree to Target - despite the few Scrooges out there beeping their horns - it made me sooo excited! The girls are counting down the hours until Santa's big arrival and we are saying our final goodbyes to Snowflake until next year! I am loving the joy in the girls faces and voices as we track where Santa is right now (Russia) on the Elf on the Shelf's facebook page!! :) Hooray for Christmas!

This has been an especially fun Christmas season for us - the girls are at such fun ages and have thoroughly enjoyed every minute since Thanksgiving. The Saturday before last was one of my favorite days so far - it was a day filled with a morning birthday party for Ali and then a family lunch at the Varsity and then a family trip to go see Arthur Christmas. So fun to all be together! After that, we missed out on fun dinner plans with friends to stay home and bake/ice Christmas cookies and make Chex mix...it was the perfect day!

Since then, we have been busy with the Nutcracker, girls nights out, nights out to Christmas parties, a precious 4 year old Christmas play at school (where my precious 5 year old had the last line in the play!)...
Ballet and tumbling Christmas parties/present exchanges for both of the girls... (precious!)
A girls only trip to Callaway Gardens for an overnight getaway to see the Fantasy in Lights (wish I had a video of Rhodes' commentary throughout the jolly trolley - it was priceless!)...and no one got sick this year...extra bonus!
Spend the night parties with Santa Claus pancakes...
And, Santa Surprises at church and a special date with my and my current baby to a cute Gingerbread party!

Both of the girls especially loved Santa Surprises b/c Rhodes got to go upstairs to FUSE for the first time (from the nursery) - they loved getting to be together and were so giddy when I picked them up...makes a Mama very happy! :) After we picked them up, Ryan and I loaded up the girls and headed to Atlanta to the Center for Puppetry Arts to see Rudolph - it was a precious show! We headed back to get ready to have the Holles over and our favorite non-related babysitter, Ms. Joa - so Mama and Daddy could attend their last two parties of the week that night! After having at least one thing every single night that week since Monday, it was a nice grand finale to a fun, tiring week! :)

We have had lots of fun and the next two days are going to be filled with even more! Merry Christmas everyone! May your Christmas be filled with love, laughter and lots of joy! :)

The Nutcracker!

2011-12-13T09:11:00.001-08:00

This Sunday, Ali and I had a special afternoon at the Nutcracker...her first Nutcracker at the Fox and hopefully a new tradition of ours. I remember how fun/special it was to venture (all the way! :)) out to Atlanta to the Fox when I was little and I was so excited to share this special tradition with her - I can't wait until Rhodes is a little bigger and I can enjoy the day with both of my girls! :)

We went to early church then the Holles came and picked us up. Ali was watching the clock, waiting for their arrival! We headed to a fun lunch right by the Fox with the girls and then headed to the show! We even had a fun special surprise of running into Grandmommy and Granddaddy at the show - neither of us realized the other was going to be there! Crazy!

The girls were great and loved the show - can't wait to hopefully go again next year!

Santa Claus...Santa Claus...Must have been ol' Santa Claus!

2011-12-09T14:12:00.000-08:00

After a busy Santa filled week - the big guy should not have any trouble remembering what these two would like for Christmas! (a bicycle and surprises!)

After seeing Santa arrive in Marietta last Thursday, Ali and Rhodes got to go see him twice on Sunday...

At our annual Christmas brunch at the club....

And again that night at the Poston's annual Christmas party...

Then, last night (Thursday), we headed out again to Phipps to see the big guy!

And between all of our trips to see Santa - our Advent calendar event one day was to write Santa letters! I told the girls as we drove off last night - that now that we have seen the official Mr. Claus, their lists are secured and no more additions/changes can be made! :)

Last night, we also carried on our tradition of going to see Santa at Phipps, then to ride the Pink Pig across the street (there was no line in line - perfect!), then out to dinner for a fun family night!

Both of the girls had their Christmas parties this week at school and Ali had her Christmas choir party (as well as two performances this week - more to come on that!) - so lots of celebrating and enjoying Christmas around here! December is already flying by and I wish it would slow down - nothing beats the happiness and the love at Christmastime!

This morning, Ali had her 5 year old check up and the girls are now off at Grandmommy and Granddaddy's so Ryan and I can have a tacky sweater night out with great friends! I always get sad when I know the girls are spending the night out, but we had a fun morning before heading out the door, eating Rudolph pancakes! (Thanks pinterest - my children have a much more fun/creative life thanks to ideas from other people! :))

Merry Merry!

Disney World 2011!

2011-12-06T08:58:00.001-08:00

On Thanksgiving morning, we woke up and told the girls we were officially heading to Disney World! They were so excited and ready to go! We had a few fun stops to make before we actually made it there - to enjoy our Thanksgiving day first before kicking off Christmas season!

First, we started with our Thanksgiving tradition of the Gobble Jog...Ryan ran the 10K and the girls and I did the 1K with my parents (and Ryan)

Waiting for daddy to make it to the finish line...
Rhodes crossing the finish line... I was so proud of the girls - and Rhodes ran almost the entire way!After the Gobble Jog - we ran home, showered, packed the car and headed down to Great-Grandmommy and Great-Granddaddy's to have a fun and delicious Thanksgiving lunch with family! The girls were in Heaven eating and playing football and tag outside...I think they even forgot where we were heading next!!

After lunch, we hopped back in the car and 7 hours later, we were in Orlando...and SO excited!!

We woke up on Friday morning and were on our way!

On the boat heading the the Magic Kingdom!

We are HERE!!We got there right when it opened and hit all of our favorites first!

We took a naptime break for Rhodes and headed to our hotel and to the Minute Clinic to see what was wrong with her eyes (see pictures above - felt like parents of the year!) - poor little princess had pink eyes! After spending a few hours at the CVS Minute Clinic - we gave her her medicine (awful!) and headed back to the park!

Christmas decorations were everywhere!We rode all of our favorite rides and had such a fun (and exhausting!) day! Headed off to our hotel once Rhodes passed out in the stroller and got some rest only to start all over the next day!

Day 2 - Hollywood Studios!!

Our favorite ride - Toy Story Mania!

Like I mentioned in a previous post -these girls love to dance! If there is a dance party going on, we have to stop and dance!

We headed back for nap breaks (and to watch the second half of the UGA/Tech game - go Dawgs!) and then back out to dinner at Chef Mickey's! A favorite for the girls!

Then, back to Hollywood Studios to see the Osborne Family Dancing Lights - they were awesome! Ryan and I both were amazed and it was probably one of the coolest things we have seen at Disney World!Then to watch Fantasmic - the girls loved it, but it was a little scary too!
I planned for Sunday to be our "rest" day - but we got to Downtown Disney before anything was even open. We were some of the only people there!

Then to Beaches N Cream for a yummy lunch and sundaes/milkshakes!

All of the hotels we visited had decorations made of Gingerbread - so neat!We got back to the Magic Kingdom at 4:00 for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas party! Such a treat! The 80 degree weather made it kind of hard to really believe it was Christmas, but the parade, the shows, the music and the decorations were so special - loved being in Disney World at Christmastime! :)

Ali found Cinderella's horse!

Rhodes said hers was Cinderella's too!

No line for the tea cups - thanks to the party!
And our very favorite ride - Dumbo! (Or as Rhodes calls it - Bongo!)
Some fun decorations...

Front row watching the parade!

The castle looked so neat all lit up!
And this is what three fun-filled days at Disney World will do to you!! It was such a fun trip and I already can't wait to go back (even though I promised Ryan it will be at least 2 more years!) No better place to get in the Christmas spirit and have fun with our little family!!

Christmastime is officially here!

2011-12-03T15:24:00.000-08:00

Christmas has officially arrived in Marietta and the Patrick household! It all started when our elf, Snowflake, arrived the night before Thanksgiving! We were all surprised by her early arrival this year! That morning, Ali was in my room and I saw her look in my closet (where a few secret presents are hidden) with big eyes - I immediately said "What do you think you're doing!" and she ran out terrified (I thought of me and felt bad!). She wouldn't go near my room the rest of the day! Later that day, when I went to get something out of my closet, I noticed the real cause of her fear - Snowflake had mysteriously landed (possibly from a shelf in my closet where she had landed after being found in a Christmas decorations box the night before) in my closet, face down, on the floor. Poor thing looked like she was dead! (now that's enough to terrify an easily frightened child!) Thank goodness, we discovered that she later moved - and we believe she had just been a little clumsy on her way in and accidentally bumped her head, knocked herself out for a little bit, and taken a quick nap before making it to her spot on a shelf! Phew! So glad she is safely here with us now! And, unfortunately for my favorite elf name from last year (Connie), she has now been re-named Snowflake after watching the new Elf on the Shelf movie and hearing that name!

After Snowflake arrived, she has been hiding all over the house (but, staying out of our rooms b/c that is NOT allowed - Ali and Rhodes are both still a little unsure of her and her "watching" them - so the "no rooms" rule helps!). Sometimes it is hard for her to remember to fly at night though and she ends up doing it at the last minute in the morning - so lazy! Snowflake and the advent calendar are the first things the girls want to look for when they wake up though - so she's got to step it up!

The past week has been busy kicking of the Christmas season with Snowflake - starting off with a fabulous trip to Disney World (more to come, I promise!), Christmas shopping, Christmas light/decoration shopping, house decorating, putting up our Christmas tree, listening to Christmas music, making a gingerbread house and lots more to come! We also spent the first night of December at one of my favorite Christmas traditions - going up to the square to watch Santa arrive in Marietta and the Christmas tree lighting. It has been especially special to me the last two years, as my dad got to welcome everyone to Marietta and this year, both girls went on stage to help him count down to the big tree lighting. Here are some pictures from our fun night. Be sure to watch the video and keep an extra eye on Rhodes as she counts down!

He's here!
So excited!
So fun to see friends on the square!
Mimi, Papa and the girls on stage!

11 more weeks...

2011-12-02T04:56:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe that in 11 more short weeks, our family will be complete! I am in my 29th week of pregnancy and feeling pretty good! My doctor is going to be out on the February break on my due date, so we will probably have this sweet baby the week before...which is exactly 11 weeks from today - at the latest! Kind of crazy to think about since we are crazy busy with Christmas coming up and I know time will fly! (It also means that I will be home with all 3 of my babies during our first week as an official family of 5 - since my girls will also be off for their February break! :) Yikes! At least I won't have to run carpool!) We are all soo excited and can not wait to find out what we are having....although we all convinced it is a girl!! (and the girls are especially thrilled!) Only time will tell, but all of the old wives tale quizzes I have taken have said definitely a girl! :) I had a checkup this week and got to take the gestational diabetes test (I passed - hooray!) and the babies heartbeat was in the 130s and he/she has been kicking like crazy! I go back in a few weeks and hope to have another ultrasound to see him/her again!!

Break it down!

2011-11-30T16:34:00.000-08:00

I promise I have posts to come soon about baby #3 update and Disney World - but, wanted to share this one first. Most of our videos from Disney Wold are of this little girl breaking it down. Wherever we were, whenever the music started, she couldn't help but start dancing! :)

Lately...

2011-11-23T14:34:00.001-08:00

I am completely in love with my girls lately! Yes, there are plenty of moments throughout my day where I feel like I may lose it if I hear them fight/scream one more time or I just wish I could get one chore done without a "Maaaammmaaaa!!!"...but, the sweetness, laughs and the good times far outweigh these times and I am loving my sweet 3 year old and 5 year old. Rhodes completely adores her big sister and there is nothing sweeter than hearing the two of them in another room playing sweetly together (before a meltdown!:))....I treasure these moments and hope I always remember them! I can't believe that in about 12 weeks there will be another Patrick - our bet around here is that it is another girl...we shall see! :)

I thought I would update with a few pictures from our daily lives this past month - iphone blog update, once again!

A week or two ago, I was cooking dinner and the house was way too calm. I heard Rhodeso coming in the room, barking....I almost died when I saw her! She had colored her entire nose black and was pretending to be a dog!
Most nights lately, these two spend the night together. I love going in there after they are asleep (hopefully - I always get in trouble with Ryan if they are not fully asleep and I wake them up! :)) and checking on them and giving them a good night kiss. One night I found them curled up next to eachother, heads touching - it was precious!
Most Mondays and Wednesdays, Rhodes and I have what we call "Rhodesy/Mommy Days!". I wish I could take a picture of her face when I tell her on those mornings that today is that day! Two weeks ago, one of my dear friends from college, Kelly Merck, came in town for a quick trip and Rhodes and I were sooo excited to meet her and Mrs. Merck at Lenox for some wedding dress shopping. Rhodes may be able to hold her own with the boys, but she is a full blood girly girl at heart - she was beyond excited when we got there. She got sad at one point, once Kelly had tried on a few dresses, and asked when it was her turn to put her dress on and get married! It was so cute! The lady (and Kelly!!) was so sweet to let her join in and try on a dress and she was in Heaven! She fell asleep on our way home and when she woke up and saw Ali, I heard her whisper to Ali with excitement, "Ali, guess what! I got married today!" Precious.

And then later that week, she got to pretend to be a bridesmaid at Madeline's birthday party! This girl's got wedding on the brain these days! :)
Due to playing tennis, taking a nap, or other excuses, I have been lousy about going to/posting pictures of Ali's cheerleading this year! There were six games in all and I made it to three of them - and I was so proud of Ali! Ali really loves cheerleading and tumbling and she is really in her element when she is out there cheering! I was so proud of my little cheerleading and she was giddy with excitement to get her trophy at the end of the year party last week!
We (especially Ali) are very into crafts these days. If I don't have a craft planned, Ali tries to come up with one on her own to keep us busy during our down time together. On Friday, I found the idea on pinterest for a Thanksgiving tree and the girls ate it up. We cut out different colored leaves out of construction paper and Ali wrote different things we are thankful for on the different leaves....she could have done it for hours! Both of the girls were excited to go out (still in our pjs) and find sticks for our tree and loved decorating the tree with our thankful leaves. As I have said before, we have so much to be thankful for and I love seeing my girls (especially Ali) realize that and enjoy Thanksgiving!

This past Saturday marked another milestone for our family - Rhodesy's first UGA game!! I can't believe that she ended up going the same year that Ali went to hers - but, I have a feeling Rhodes will be her daddy's game buddy whenever he needs one - she was SO excited!! I've never seen her hop in the bathtub so fast or sit down to get her hair dried for long enough - just so she can get out the door to go cheer on the Dawgs! (and pull them to a victory!) The bad news was that Ryan decided to skip 316 and go one of our back ways and, unfortunately, there was a major accident that shut down the road and had them sitting still in traffic for 2 hours!!! (thank God for DVDs!) Their plan was to go to the first half (or as long as Rhodes could make it) and leave at halftime (so he could get back for our date night!)- but, they did not end up getting there until half time due to the traffic! Ryan went on and on about how perfect Rhodes was. She sat still, raised her hands in the air when she heard people cheering and when the 4th quarter started and loved looking for Uga, the football players and the cheerleaders! This will definitely not be her last game. Ryan said she never even asked to eat (which she hadn't done since breakfast!), go to the potty, or leave - and it wasn't until he decided it was time to go that they left. So impressed with our little future Dawg and so glad they enjoyed their daddy/daughter day! :) Ali and I had a fun day of shopping and, of course, doing crafts! :) Trying to take advantage of some one on one time these next few months, while we can still get it! :)

The one picture Ryan sent me from the game... :)

So...that's all the pictures I have for now! Phew! Relief to be somewhat caught up with the blog for now! :) I am excited to go back to the doctor on Tuesday for an update on baby Patrick #3! I will be sure to dedicate a blog just to him/her after that! With the craziness of Thanksgiving, a somewhat surprise trip to Disney World, Christmas decorating, Christmas shopping, Christmas decorating (and, of course, Christmas crafting for the girls!), and a possible home renovation/addition coming up soon (architect came today to measure/draw up plans - more info coming soon!) - life is about to get even crazier and this baby will be here before we know it! We can not wait to meet this little one! Hopefully lots more posts of our fun adventures to come soon! Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hug your families and treasure these sweet moments we have together! Love, Jamie

We are thankful!

2011-11-21T08:34:00.000-08:00

This month, as we approach Thanksgiving, I feel like I am constantly going through my head remembering what I am thankful for...trying to have a grateful heart for all of those things we take for granted in our daily lives and remembering how blessed we truly are! Secretly, I can tell you that I can NOT wait for Christmas and am so antsy to start decorating, listening to Christmas music, etc - but, I am grateful for this month, week and this upcoming Thursday to help reflect on all of the things to thank God for!

This past week, we had Ali's Thanksgiving Feast at school. I signed up for green beans and left them on the stove to finish cooking while I ran the girls to school and then decided to stop by the office for a few minutes to write a few checks for my dad, etc. I was supposed to be there to set up for the feast at 9:45, got the girls to school at 9:05 and figured I would have plenty of time when I left the office at 9:30 to run home, pick the green beans up and head back to the school for the feast! When I pulled into my house, I realized that I had left my keys and my spare key locked inside the house. Luckily, my house is only a mile from the girls' school and a mile from my husband's office or I never would have made it. Lately, I'm not sure if it is being pregnant, or having two kids and being pregnant, or just that I am losing my mind - but I have been doing lots of things like this and I have felt very thankful to live in our little house (and it's great location) and our little community. Last week, I left my wallet at church and had no idea until one of my neighbor's brought it by our house that day! (this week, I walked out of church without my purse - until Ali realized it and reminded me - see what I mean?? Losing it!) I am thankful for people that look after me when obviously I just can not seem to get it together! :) I am thankful for a husband who loves me (despite my unlovable moments!) and takes care of me, two beautiful daughters that I adore and are at such a fun/easy age (when they are not bickering!), grandparents that help out with my children when I just need a break or a date or to work or to go to the doctor, family that loves us, etc, etc, to name a few! I love this time of year and am so excited for the fun of the Holidays - I know this is going to the best holiday season with my children yet!

A few pictures from my little pilgrim at her Thanksgiving Feast!

Ali's precious little 4 year old class!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

5 years old!

2011-11-08T13:15:00.001-08:00

I know I say it every year, but I can not believe my first baby is FIVE years old! Five is such a big year to me - it means she is such a big girl, getting ready for Kindergarten and Mama's little helper/partner in crime. God sure knew what he was doing when he chose Ali to be my first child - she is my listener, my pleaser, she likes to follow the rules, loves to giggle...she is a shining light and has become so independent and confident this year...which is bittersweet for this Mama who is used to having her under my wing. :) She loves her friends and already talks about which boy she is going to marry almost daily! (we are going to have our hands full with this one!) We think she is smart beyond her years and doesn't miss much - I thank the Lord for her sweet smile, her silly giggle and her love for life and her family - can't imagine what life was like 5 years ago before there was Ali!

As always, I believe birthdays should last much longer than just a day (my dad always said I got a birthday month!)...so we started kicking off Ali's birthday celebration weekend on Friday at our favorite, La Parilla with Libby and the Holles!

On Saturday morning, we got up and ready for Ali's princess tea party - the perfect way for our princess to celebrate her fifth birthday with friends!
We had the party at our Country club and Snow White even stopped in for stories! The food was delicious and the girls had a great time!

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The hot chocolate in tea cups with marshmallows were a hit - especially with Rhodes!

We continued the celebration all weekend, finally making cupcakes on Monday night for Ali to take to school on her actual birthday - Tuesday!
Waking up to birthday donuts! I'm five!!
One more picture before my big girl headed off to school!
After a fun lunch out with Mama, Daddy, Mimi and Papa - we spent the evening celebrating at one of our newest birthday traditions - a Japanese steakhouse! Ali loves going there (she loves some steamed rice!) - and our little family of four had so much fun finishing off our fun day/weekend there!

Happy fifth birthday to the sweetest, giggliest, smartest, prettiest 5 year old princess I know! We love you more than you will ever know!

October report

2011-11-02T06:22:00.000-07:00

The past few weeks, we have been enjoying the feeling of Fall in the air and all of the fun activities that come with it! I have wrapped up my season as captain of my ALTA team and kind of bummed to be giving up tennis until the Spring - but my body is thanking me! :) The girls both had their Fall parties and I loved getting to help with them (trying to knock out all the parties I can now before baby #3 gets here!) and they had a blast!

Two weeks ago, we kicked off a chilly Fall morning by taking part in the Cobb Heart Walk with our friends and neighbors, the Martins. They had a HUGE crowd supporting them and we were so glad to be apart of it!

Afterwards, we headed to the Martins for an after party consisting of a moonbounce, Mellow Mushroom pizza (my favorite!), a band, and yummy desserts and drinks! We had a great time before heading down to Culloden, Georgia for a wedding! I am so mad I did not take pictures of the wedding! It was a beautiful wedding on Joseph's family farm and we had so much fun catching up with old and new friends! Thanks to Mimi and Papa for watching the girls while we had a night away!

When we got back, Mimi, Ali, Rhodes and I headed to a Cobb Landmarks event - Multi-Generational tea at Mockingbird Hill. We had so much fun seeing friends - and the girls loved running around the whole time. Rhodes immediately found a delicious cookie and managed to get green food dye all over her face as soon as we walked in the door! :) I am so thankful for friends who take pictures and send them to me. Almost like having my own personal photographer that I have mentioned before that I need!!

Rhodes was quite the character during the group photo session....

Lots of sweet friends! Can you spot Rhodes in the crowd?
Speaking of wonderful friends that take pictures for me - I am so thankful to my friend, Emilie, for taking these pictures below of the girls! Much better than any pictures I would ever take and I love them! We headed down to Sea Island this past Wednesday night for 4 nights for Ryan to get to play in a golf tournament at Ocean Forest and for the Georgia/Florida game. There were 8 adults and 6 kids (with two preggos - so we'll have 8 kids next time!) and everyone got along great and had so much fun! Here are some of the pictures Emilie took of Ali and Rhodes outside of the Brumby's house...

And now onto the not so good ones from my iphone... :)

View from our living room out over the marsh - it is beautiful!

Took a little trip to St. Simons to play on the playground and on the whales...
Watching a movie while the big kids cheered on the dawgs!
Everyone was tired on our way home - especially Ryan who stayed up a little later than his 3 girls - celebrating a Bulldawg victory!! I ended up driving halfway and not long into my drive, this is what I got to look at....Like father, like daughters....

When we got back in town - we headed straight to Tailgate Treats at our church and ran out of time to carve our pumpkins! The girls and I decided we had to have our own jack-o-lanterns, so we did some carving on Halloween!
And some sidewalk decorating...

My 3 little Halloween amigos... Smurfette, Princess Aurora, and baxter...
The pose I got when I said "Say we can't wait to eat our candy!"

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween! Go Dawgs!

I know my days are numbered....

2011-10-18T10:20:00.000-07:00

So I'm going to enjoy them while I can! This morning, I went on another fun field trip with Ali's class. We walked up to the Strand Theatre to see the Three Little Pigs play - it was so cute and so much fun! When I told Ali I was going, she was SO excited and said "Will you please sit by me??" - music to my ears! I know these are not words I will be hearing out of her sweet mouth forever so I am treasuring them now, going on as many field trips and class parties as possible, and loving every second of my sweet girl(s)!

Ali and Caroline waiting for the show to start! (not the best picture, but only one I got!) Their class made these precious shirts with three pigs on them - in honor of the show!

After the play, Ali and I decided to take advantage of our time before she had ballet (and while Rhodes was in lunch bunch) for a little one on one time - a date to Sugarcakes! I treasure this time so much - knowing that my big girl will be in Kindergarten next year and these times will be few and far between. We chatted it up for an hour and it really made this Mama's day! Love having a little girl that loves her Mama and loves our time together as much as I do! (even though I know it won't be like this forever!) I love her so & love our sweet time together!

The littlest Patrick

2011-10-11T07:40:00.000-07:00

Finding time to sit down and blog is getting harder and harder these days! I can't imagine what it will be like once I am a mom of 3! Speaking of...poor baby Patrick is in need of blog love! Sweet baby is busy kicking Mama a lot (but Ryan can't feel it just yet) and it is such a great feeling! I am busy growing, gaining weight and a big belly (blame it on the 3rd pregnancy!), and all of the highs and lows of pregnancy. Ryan and I went in this morning for our 21 week ultrasound and here's the full report. We made it through the ultrasound without finding out! I would have been SO disappointed with myself if I had found out at this point. I feel like this is my one chance in life where I get to meet this sweet baby and have that moment where I get to find out it's sex, announce it's name, and hold my sweet baby and I can not wait! And, I promise I am truly not finding out - not just saying it and secretly finding out and keeping it from you all! :) (although I did consider doing that at first!) The ultrasound today went great! Everything looked great - except they did notice some calcium deposits in the baby's heart. Since this puts us at a small risk for Down Syndrome - we need to go in again again at 30 weeks for another ultrasound (that I would have already been getting for my Hypothyroidism), but Dr. Cauthen is not worried. I show no other signs and my bloodwork came back that I have a 1 in 5000 chance of having a DS child...so I am not too worried. Just praying for a happy, healthy baby come February! After the full check to see if baby had all of it's legs, arms, hands, heart chambers, etc - I asked our tech if she could tell what the baby was...we turned our heads and she did a quick check and Ryan and I both came out of the office with different opinions about what her answer told us. We shall see! It's hard to believe our newest addition will be here in a little over 4 months! Today made me really excited and we are praying for this sweet baby and can't wait to hold him/her in our arms! :)

Berry Patch Farms 2011!

2011-10-10T13:06:00.000-07:00

We had another great time this weekend, venturing out to one of our favorite Fall traditions - the pumpkin patch at Berry Patch Farms! We met our friends, the Lowerys, there and also ran into lots of fun friends, saw lots of pumpkins, got some little faces painted, ate hot dogs and boiled peanuts, went on a hayride and played a little on the playground. It was the perfect trip!

We started off with a little face painting...

You can't tell by Rhodesy's face in this picture, but she had a blast - I guess she just wasn't in the mood for pictures! :) (and my camera's memory card was full after the first picture above!)
Having fun in the front of the hayride!

Rhodes loved the gourds!
Posing with their favorite mini-pumkins
Sweet friends, Ali and Caroline!

I am sure I have never mentioned how opposite my two girls are - this one likes to sit and pose for pictures...
This one prefers to act silly!
Amazing attempt at a shot of my two girls in the pumpkin patch!

And, again, silly Rhodeso posing with Mama on the hayride back. She was trying to show her pumpkin, but of course it was blocking her pretty face!Happy Fall y'all!

Rhodesy's birthday weekend!

2011-10-03T07:19:00.001-07:00

My sweet Rhodesy had a fabulous birthday weekend! It kicked off with a special trip to American Girl for lunch on Friday... We enjoyed some yummy food and the girls each got to pick out a little gift to take home! Something about that pink restaurant and store filled with dolls and girly things makes it such a fun place to celebrate!

The girls broke into their bags as soon as we got out of the store!

Rhodes started having meltdowns and was ready to go - but I had promised the girls a trip to the carousel. Even though Rhodes wouldn't have it - Ali still wanted to go, so we went upstairs for a quick spin!

Our day continued with a trip that night to Burruss's Fall Festival and then Ryan and I had a date night with friends to this year's last Concert on the Square, while the girls had their favorite non-related babysitter (Ms. Joa) and their friends, Libby and Brittain, over to play!

After some convincing, Ryan talked Ali into going to her first UGA game! She was so excited the morning of - especially about cotton candy and going to the bookstore to buy a new cheerleading outfit! Even better - for Ali's first ever game - she got to sit in our friend's (the Postons) box to watch the entire game! Seriously - Ryan said it took him 30 years to get to watch the game in a box and Ali got to go on her first time - she does not know how lucky she is! :) It made this Mama rest assured knowing that there was a bathroom, food, drinks, and heat/air conditioning right there - they had a ball! Ali didn't even want to leave when the game was over! It was such a special day for them and we are so thankful to the Poston's for another fun trip to their box! Papa, Uncle Ty, and Aunt Ashley ended up getting to sit up there too - so Ali got lots of attention and had loads of fun!

While they were away - Rhodes and I enjoyed the perfect Mama/Rhodesy day! We started off with a trip to Rhodes' friend Jack's digging birthday party (he is a day older than Rhodes)

Then we headed to the mall to meet Mimi at the Disney Store for some shopping, eating and then a spur of the moment special trip to Build-A-Bear to build Rhodes her own bear. I think it was the highlight of her birthday - she was so precious picking her bear out, stuffing it, giving it a bath and then picking out the perfect outfit. I loved my special time with my special little girl!

When Daddy and Ali made it back from Athens - we took off for our annual birthday tradition of La Parilla!

On Sunday, Rhodes woke up to a fun birthday morning! We started off with birthday breakfast, then had a family birthday lunch party! Rhodes and Ali had so much fun bouncing around with their cousins Olivia and Savannah and everyone else who came to celebrate!!

oAli was Rhodes' present opening "helper"...

Cousins enjoyed some birthday dance parties!

First birthday cake of the day - happy 3rd birthday to my sweet Rhodesy!

From there, we headed over to the Poston's for Rhodes and Christopher's Princess and Superhero birthday party in their backyard!

Birthday superhero and princess!

Rhodes had fun in the huge bounce house - but her favorite part may have been going on the zip line in the Poston's backyard!
After the guests left, the two birthday guests of honor put on a musical performance...

And, finally, this morning - Rhodes headed to school with special treats to celebrate turning 3 with all of her school friends! She was so excited to wear her new number shirt!

Feeling thankful for three fabulous years of Rhodesy!Happy birthday to our sweet, hysterical, smart, beautiful princess! We love you so!

My baby girl is 3!

2011-10-02T15:35:00.000-07:00

Happy 3rd birthday to my little sunshine...the one who keeps me on my toes, pushes my patience at times, makes me laugh and smile all day every day, and has a sweet, sweet spirit that I couldn't live without! I love you sweet girl and thank the Lord for you daily....I have cherished every second of your sweet two year old hugs and kisses and hope you never change! Looking forward to another fun-filled year of Rhodesy and hope you had the happiest of birthdays today! Happy 3rd birthday Rhodesy!!

Looking back on September...

2011-10-01T12:09:00.000-07:00

Bad blogger here again! I am thankful for my iphone and the ability to have pictures of some of our activities to help me update! September has been another fun month! Both of the girls started ballet in September, as well as music for Rhodesy and choir for Ali. They both love both of these activities - they are highlights of their weeks! We spent the rest of the month busy in all of our activities, attending birthday parties, concerts, football games, and having some good Fall family time. My favorite time of year!

Rhodes and her friend, Hadley, on their first day of ballet. She has a precious class of 4 sweet little girls, all about a month apart, all second or third children, and all Methodists! :) Reminds me a lot of my foursome growing up - and I have a feeling they will be special little friends!

Hadley, Rhodes and Mollie Ryan....we are missing pictures of Madeline on the first day - but I'm sure there will be many more to come later on!
Rhodes was giving us fits earlier this month (noted in previous posts) - screaming bloody murder when she went to bed and waking up in the middle of the night to throw more screaming fits. It was a miserable few nights - and something this pregnant Mama was not happy about dealing with in the few months I have before we have a newborn in this house. We finally decided that Rhodes just was ready to move out of the crib. We knew the time was coming, but were not ready to make the switch until we had to. :) We went bed shopping, but in the meantime, decided to move Rhodes into Ali's bed...and it worked out so well, that the two are still sleeping together. We have our nights where Rhodes wants to talk and tell jokes and keep Ali up - but, overall, it has been a good transition - so good, that I think we will keep it for the time being! The girls went to Pottery Barn Kids to pick out their new shared bedspread and this was their choice for their "new" bed!
I went on a quick girls trip with some of my great friends from high school (well, and elementary school and before!) - it was such a nice getaway full of sleep, relaxing and catching up! (and wine for everyone but me! :)) So thankful for these friends and love reminiscing! While I was gone, Ryan played Mr. Mom and took the girls to a Marietta game on Friday night and to two birthday parties on Saturday and over to the Swartwood's house on Saturday night (I was with Mandy at her parent's amazing lake house) - so they had a very full and very fun weekend! I found these pictures on Ryan's phone from one of their parties and I got a good laugh out of them so I thought I would share. My friend, Carly, threw an amazing Barnyard party for her children - Mary Reese and Hutson - and the girls (especially my animal-loving Rhodesy!) had a blast!

In other Rhodesy news......my silly baby decided she wanted to be Smurfette for Halloween one night. The next day, I left her alone for about 5 minutes....until she came running into my room yelling "Look Mom! I'm Smurfette!" Picture does not do it justice...but her legs, arms and belly were all covered in green marker! Little nut! :)
We met our friends, the Harveys, at the North Georgia State Fair this week and had a ball! The girls (especially Rhodes) had a ball and loved all of the rides! We can't wait until it comes back again next year so we can go again - excited about this new Fall family tradition!

My sweet girls!
Ali took her first field trip this past week and I got to chaperone! She has such a precious class and we are so lucky that school is on the Marietta Square so we can walk to fun places like the fire station!
Ali and her friend, Caroline in the hats they made!

Love this sweet class of friends!

Tomorrow a princess in our house turns THREE years old - so tonight we are heading out to celebrate her final hours as a two year old. Love my sweet family and thankful for every second we get to spend together!

Give a Rhodeso some chocolate ice cream...

2011-08-29T18:28:00.000-07:00

And leave her unattended for a few minutes....and this is what you may come back to!

Love my little chocolate monster, but boy can she make a mess! :)

Weekend roundup!

2011-08-28T18:00:00.000-07:00

In an effort to keep the blog updated, just wanted to post some pictures from this past week/weekend from my phone!

Rhodes loves to do two things - she loves to find something for the day/week/night that she is obsessed with and wear it/hold it/take it everywhere with her while it is her current obsession. Last week - it was this shirt! (Note to self: Stop spending all of my money on cute matching smocked clothes - Rhodes prefers to dress herself and usually goes for a more casual look!) She wanted to wear it all day, then to bed, then again the next day. Also, in an effort to stall going to bed, she tries to think of anything in her power that will get us to come back in her room or keep us from leaving her room at bedtime. During the pink shirt obsession night, she stalled trying to put together an outfit (she also likes to wear snow hats out during the day - quite the fashionista!) and went to bed exactly like this...shoes and all!

(And, yes...once we have potty training completely 100% - we have two big goals coming up...get rid of pacifier and move to a big girl bed! I am stalling trying to keep this girl my baby forever!)

We had a fun weekend - kicking it off with the Blue Devil Walk. We didn't go to the game b/c Ryan and I already had plans - but we walked over to the stadium and watched the blue devil walk with the girls - love this time of year and so fun to get to walk over with the girls. On the way back, I was struggling up a big hill, pushing Ali in the stroller - but loved the view we had from afar of Rhodes on her daddy's shoulders!
We made our rounds on Saturday to three different parties - two birthday parties for the girls and a wedding shower for good friends of ours on Saturday night! The only pictures I came home with were from one of the fun birthday parties that we all went to! It was at Miss Mamie's cupcakes and then Marietta Pizza Company and the girls were so great (even after eating cupcakes before pizza!) and we all had a great time!

Every now and then, I can feel a hint of Fall in the air and it gets me so excited!! Loved being with our little family this weekend and having a few nights out with Ryan and friends! Looking forward to lots of fun family time to come this Fall!

First day of school today!!! Rhodes' version!

2011-08-23T08:01:00.000-07:00

My sweet Rhodeso was so excited this morning to wake up and go to school! After my post on Sunday about the lack of sleep and accidents - it's possible I un-jinxed myself! She went to bed at 5:15 pm on Sunday night and didn't wake up until 7:00 on Monday morning - yay for sleep! (and slept great last night too!) And, we have had zero accidents since Sunday - yahoo! I was able to send my baby to school today in her big girl panties after all! :) Rhodes and I got up this morning and made breakfast and just chatted. She named all of her friends that she is excited to see at school today and I am on pins and needles waiting to hear how her first day went! :) We love our little Wooga and we are so proud of her and the little character she is!

Rhodes was so excited to get to school that she did not want/have time to fool with the Mama paparazzi! Just to give you a glimpse of our attempted photo session...

(Ryan had to get to work early for a closing this morning, so Ali was the photographer!)

And, after documenting Ali's first day so well yesterday with a picture of her with her new teacher...unfortunately, this is the best I could do for Rhodes! :) She went right in and didn't look back! I considered asking her teacher to get with her and hold her so she would look at me - but, with a couple sad kiddos, she had her hands full - plus, why prolong my goodbye and maybe make Rhodes sad in the end?? I have to admit, it felt kind of weird walking out of there with both of my little girls in school - but, felt so good to know that they both looked so happy when I left and did not even look back! :)

**After pick-up note** Rhodes had an AWESOME first day! I wish I had a tape recorder so you could hear her excitement and her review of the day when she got in the car! She was a chatterbox and told me everything she did and all of the friends she played with! This Mama had MISSED her today - I mean, she had gone to school last year for the same amount of time - but we had quite the summer of togetherness and I missed my baby today! Plus, she goes to lunch bunch until 1:45 and I picked up Ali at noon (she will usually have ballet on Tuesdays but class does not start until September) and I just wanted to run in there and sneak a peek and grab her to hear how her day was going! And, after two years of having to walk in and get my toddler, it was bittersweet to pull up and see my "baby" standing out there, looking like such a big girl with someone else walking her out (not needing her mama!) - made me tear up a bit! But, the tears were quickly wiped away when I saw and heard the excitement and the fun she had had that day! SO so proud of my baby girl!

It's the first day of school today!!!

2011-08-22T08:26:00.000-07:00

Happy first day of Pre-K to my favorite little 4 year old!! Ali was so giddy all day yesterday and woke up with the biggest grin on her face today - couldn't wait for her big day with her little friends!! I was one proud Mama today (and every day!)....love this little sweet pea!
First day in the 4's at school!
Rhodes prefers to be the photographer...even if it's just with a cassette tape!
Say cheese!

Ali with her new teacher, Mrs. Hills! (once you get to 4K - you are big time and start calling teachers by their last names!) :) We love her already! Ali walked right in, gave me a big hug, then, as we said goodbye, she ran out into the hall and gave her little sister a big goodbye hug. Melted this Mama's heart!

The first day was a big success! When I picked Ali up, she was a chatterbox telling me about all of the friends that she saw and played with - plus, she got to be the class leader on the first day! She got to pick where we celebrated after school - she chose Zaxby's and a trip to the School Box!

Striking a pose at lunch...

Having fun!

Here's to a great year! More pictures to come tomorrow after Rhodesy's first day!

Back in the swing of things!

2011-08-15T11:48:00.000-07:00

Happy Sunday! We are all excited b/c we are kicking off back to school week at the Patrick household. Ali starts Pre-K tomorrow and could not be more excited. She has a precious class full of cute little friends, great new teachers and such an eagerness to learn - she makes her Mama and Daddy so proud! I know this is going to be a great year for her and I am going to soak up every minute of her 9-12 days (Mon-Thurs) and our Friday mornings together before she starts big school next year! :)

Rhodes starts big girl school on Tuesday! She is so excited to be a big girl and to get to go in carpool line two days a week. We had meet and greet last week for both of the girls and they both loved it! I also love Rhodes' teachers and her cute little class (even though there is only one other little girl and 8 boys!!) and I think she is going to have a great year! Rhodes was literally running the halls after her meet & greet saying "This was SO much fun!" ....sure makes me Mama feel good to know she is in such good hands and loves it! :) We are so, so proud of her - but, we have had some setbacks the last few days. For some reason she has had lots of accidents and is kind of moving backwards in potty training - just in time to start school! :) We are not quite sure what is going on - but she has also been waking up in the middle of the night and screaming/crying for an hour or so - not good for a prego mama who is already having trouble sleeping! To top it off - the first night she started the sleep deprived nights, I had already woken up sick (sore throat, pounding headache, and ugly cold to go with it!) and have been feeling under the weather the last few days. Thank God for Ryan and for the weekend! I think this family just needs to get back in the swing of things - back to a good routine, good sleep and a regular schedule! It is the perfect time for school to start around here! :)

And, just an update on Patrick baby #3! I went in for my 13 week appointment last Monday (8/15) and, after our ultrasound, we moved our due date from 2/20 to 2/23. I'm thinking a Valentine's Day baby would be perfect! :) (or just a healthy baby any time in February would be perfect, of course) Since this is our last baby, we are planning on NOT finding out the sex this go-around. Never in a million years did I think those words would come out of my mouth, but, I have to admit, it is pretty exciting wondering what this baby will be. Let's just see if I can do it and not lose my mind (not being able to plan!) before February...fingers crossed I don't give in! :) So far, everything has gone smoothly and honestly, it's hard to even find time to think about being pregnant while chasing around the older 2! I hope to keep the blog updated often with pregnancy news as we anticipate the arrival of our baby next February. We have a busy year ahead of us and we are so excited for what lies ahead!

Without further ado...

2011-08-15T11:27:00.000-07:00

Ryan, Ali, Rhodes, and I would like to introduce you to the soon-to-be newest member of our little family...

Baby Patrick #3

*Coming into this world mid-late February!*

(FYI - Just 2 pictures of our little bit from different views - there's only one baby in there!)

We are all so excited for this new addition and can not wait for February!!

As good as it gets!

2011-08-10T10:12:00.000-07:00

Life as we know it is pretty darn good...although I have a feeling it's about to get even better! Tomorrow marks the first day of school for Marietta City and it is hard to believe that some of Ali's little first friends will be starting kindergarten. I can't believe that in one year my first little baby will be heading that way as well - so glad I have an entire year to let it soak in. I have a feeling this time next year, I will be a basket case! We have enjoyed a fun summer - but I can't believe it is already that time for school to start again! We still have about a week and a half to enjoy before our daily routines kick back in - and I have a goal to enjoy some lazy summer mornings/afternoons with nowhere to be! Unfortunately, we did not get enough of those this summer - but, then again, I'd probably be stir crazy and pulling out my hair if we did! So here are some pictures to enjoy to sum up our July! Before you look, let me preface by saying - most of these are iphone pictures and about 90% of them are blurry - but you get the idea. I am so jealous of people that come back with picture perfect memories of the beach vacations, etc - I am not one of those...but, I did live in the moment and hope I remember these days. One of these days, I will be better about taking pictures - but, until then, I need to find someone that will follow me around and take great photographs of our memories while I am busy making them! :)

We rung in Ryan's 31st birthday mid-July and celebrated by going to my cousin, Jessica's rehearsal dinner in Atlanta that night. The whole wedding weekend was beautiful and Ali was in Heaven getting to be the flower girl! Rhodes also thought she was the flower girl...but, our little busy bee two year old was not quite ready for the big role! (maybe by the time Uncle Sig gets married one day! :)) Ali loved every second of it and we were soo proud of our little flower girl. She also developed a quick crush on the ring bearer and had fun playing chase and giggling at all of his jokes all weekend long! (we are going to be in big trouble with this little flirt one day! yikes!)

The girls both stayed out way passed their bedtimes both nights - but had the time of their life (no exaggeration - they were in Heaven!) dancing the night away. There is nothing that these two Patrick girls love more than singing and dancing and they were truly the belles of the ball! (well, the young belles of the ball - of course the bride stole the show!) They did not stop dancing until we dragged them out the door after 10 pm...they danced with anyone they could - daddy, Papa, Uncle Sig, Uncle Ty....we had some worn out girls after this wedding weekend! As long as the music was going, their little bodies were moving to the beat! (again, excuse the blurriness...and let me know if you know of someone to fill my full-time photographer needs) :)

Daddy and his girls...
Papa and his girls...

Dancing buddies

Sharing Papa and Uncle Sig...

On Sunday morning, we got up early, cleaned our house for a showing that day and heading to SSI. We spent one night at our beach house, then headed down Monday morning to Amelia Island to stay at the Ritz for a few nights...it was perfection! Ryan got to play golf, surprised me with a mani/pedi at the Ritz spa and we had lots of good (crazy?) family time!

Searching for seashells...

Heading to the awesome pool...
The girls did a Ritz pirate scavenger hunt and got some fun glowsticks to wear at night....always such a struggle to get these two to smile and look at me at the same time! :)
After our short, but sweet adventure to Amelia, we headed back to our home away from home (St Simons) for a week. We relaxed, ate well, swam a lot, played putt-putt, and even ventured out to Summer Waves water park one afternoon to check it out! We all had fun - but, it made me realize that I am not yet ready to head to White Water just yet - maybe next summer!

Ali was a competitive little Putt-putter..
But, Rhodes preferred dancing on the sidelines...

Making beach breakfast faces...

Fun at the Summer Waves!

One important note - when we arrived in St. Simons our first night of the trip, Rhodes also decided that she was finally ready to say "goodbye" diapers and pullups and "hello" to big girl Tinkerbell panties. Hallelujah! A few weeks later, we have a diaper-free house for now and although there are still accidents sometimes - I could not be more proud of my little Rhodeso! There was a time (probably a month ago and before) I thought I would be sending Rhodes to kindergarten in diapers b/c she just refused to use the potty - but she proved me wrong and she is such a girl girl now! There are many mornings, though, where Rhodes decides she would rather go without any pants (easier potty access) all morning long - and run around outside panty-less (with just her pajama top on), so we are working on that! :) Love my little character!

Here I go on a blogging roll!! Let's see if I can keep it up!

Ch, ch, changes...

2011-08-10T04:42:00.000-07:00

Hello blogging friends! We have lots to catch up on! It's been a month since I've blogged and I have big goals from here on out to become a better blogger again! Our lives continue to stay busy - and between camps, my cousin Jessica's wedding, a 10 day beach trip, Ryan's birthday, both Mimi and Grandmommy's birthday, golf trips, clothing shows, potty training, and trying to sell our house (to name a few!) this past month has been yet another busy one! More big updates to come in another blog this week - but, just wanted to let you know that I am still here! We have dentist appointments this morning and a house viewing around lunchtime so I promise more to come later!

Munchkin Movies

2011-07-06T16:55:00.000-07:00

Today I took the girls to one of my favorite summer activities - Munchkin movie series at the Strand. I love it because it's cheap, close by, and makes me feel like I am living in another decade. It is such stress relief to be able to take children to the movies and not worry if they are being loud or walking around (because everyone else is too!) and getting to run into other friends...it's a treat! Today, we met up with the Lowerys, Sims and Swartwoods to see Shrek and we made it through the entire movie this year - big success! Since we were going to the Strand, we got to park at Daddy's office and ran into him on our way....this was the best picture I could get. For some reason Ali really wanted her toy elephant in the picture! :)
Afterwards, Caroline's grandmother (Doe Doe) took Ali and Caroline out for lunch, Target and to get mani/pedis (in little butterfly mani/pedi chairs!) - Ali had quite the day and came home with polka dotted fingernails and toenails! If only these girls knew how lucky they are!!

Happy 4th!

2011-07-05T06:55:00.000-07:00

We had fun-filled family 4th of July weekend. On Saturday, we spent some time at the pool, then napped, then headed out to see Cars 2, eat pizza and get some Oh La La (Frozen yogurt/toppings place) for dessert. It was a fun family night! When we first sat down to the movie - I was in Heaven, wondering why we didn't do this more often. Then, ten minutes into the movie (after a pack of Sour Patch Kids and some Sprite), Rhodes got ants in her pants...and I remembered why! :) It was still fun though - she just had lots of commentary to add to the movie! I tried so hard to get a good picture of my 3 movie dates outside the movie...but this is the best I got....photographer of the year!
These two girls love some Oh La La (or Yogli Mogli or any frozen yogurt bar place, really!)
We kicked off the 4th of July in style...we were #3 in the Marietta 4th of July Parade. Papa got one of his old tractors refinished and was so proud of it! (I had no idea he even had a tractor - but he was so excited!) He decided that his "float" this year would be him driving the tractor and pulling us behind. It was hot, but we had a blast!

Mimi, Papa and the girls!

Rhodes, especially, loved the tractor....she would have preferred to drive the tractor instead of ride in the float!Ali and Mimi - the sun was out and it was hot!
Posing...
Getting ready to begin!

Sweet friends...Ali and Caroline
Rhodes found the fan!
Here we go!
I think Rhodes loved the parade the most! Every time I yelled out "Happy 4th!", she would yell it out in her cute little voice as well! She also waved her flag for everyone and waved at her adoring crowd!
Driving down the loop (in regular traffic) to get the float back to the starting point = a little nerve wracking!
I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July!

Summer livin'

2011-07-02T05:23:00.000-07:00

July is here - it is hard to believe! We continue to stay busy and are having lots of summer fun! Although I find myself tired of plans and longing for days of sitting around with NOTHING to do - I also love to stay busy and have to say that last weekend was one of my favorite weekends to date. Ryan and I headed to Charleston and I missed our girls like crazy, but had an incredible (and exhausting!) kid free weekend. One of my best friends since zero got married and it was such an honor to be a part of her special day! We got there on Thursday and enjoyed a date night then met up with my parents and the bride and groom and their families for some drinks. Ryan played two days worth of golf at some amazing golf courses and I shopped and did fun bridesmaid activities the day of the wedding. It was the perfect wedding weekend and we could not have had a better time! They planned the perfect weekend - everything from the "welcome party" (200 people to toast in front of!) here, to the bridesmaid luncheon here (the food was unbelievable and George Washington had actually eaten the historic room we ate in!), the wedding here (the oldest Catholic church in the Carolinas and Georgia!), the reception here with this amazing band, and even an after party here! They truly thought of everything and it was perfect! So excited for my oldest friend and part of me wishes we were still there celebrating in our dancing shoes! (Although not sure I could be away from my girls for one more second!) I am now trying to figure out when we can get back to Charleston for a family weekend - such a great city!

My goofy husband had a great time playing golf on Saturday and decided to take a few pictures of us walking back into the church for pictures after the wedding...

The happy father of the bride....

Mother of the bride....
Best friends since zero....minus the bride!
Congrats to Kate and Pete!! And thanks to Grandmommy and Granddaddy for a fun-filled weekend for Ali and Rhodes! They had such a great time and have been going through withdrawals all week!

Now we are back in the throws of the real world...potty training has finally begun at the Patrick household - if we can just stay home long enough to practice. Rhodes is loving her big girl panties and prefers to walk around like this 24 hours a day - even when she is outside dancing or watering the flowers!

Love this bottom! :)
Ali had a big week at Super hero camp! It was 9-3 every day and she had a blast! (her mama and Rhodes missed her - that is a LONG time!) We celebrated the start of a fun family weekend by roasting some s'mores!
Silly girl!
Sticky and delicious!
This weekend - I have big goals! Getting out the camera, putting down the computer, and spending lots of good quality time with three of my favorite people! We may just walk up to the Farmers market today, then head to the pool, then a family night of Cars 2, pizza and maybe some yummy yogurt! Now...these are the things summer is made for!

Sum, sum, summertime

2011-06-19T18:37:00.000-07:00

Summer is here and flying by already! Phew! Where is the pause button when I need it? The girls and I have practically been living up at the church between VBS planning week and camps for the girls and then actual VBS week (and actual church!). We have loved it but I am so looking forward to the next few days without any set place we have to be (except one 9 a.m. doctors appointment tomorrow - dang it!) and maybe getting a few sporadic play dates/pool time in before we head out of town again later this week! The girls are loving the pool this summer. Rhodes is fearless and thinks she can swim without her floaties - but does great when she has her Puddle Jumper float on - I am so thankful for that. Ali is swimming like a fish and loving it. I am so proud of her and so glad that she just picked it up right where she left off last summer! Both of my girls are growing up so much and becoming such big girls - it is so bittersweet! Sad for this Mama who thinks my babies are still "babies" but loving how much easier life is with two independent and fun little girls! We have a busy and fun summer ahead of us and I am hoping to just soak up this time with my girls and our little family of 4! I am going to try to get lots of pictures of our fun summer - but also plan on doing lots of playing and sitting on the sidelines just taking it all in - enjoying every second of this fun stage of life! (and hopefully catching some sunshine and a good tan while I do it!) :) Happy summer everyone!

Ballerina Ali

2011-06-14T17:07:00.001-07:00

Ali has LOVED ballet this year - she has had such a cute little group to do it with and we have loved her teacher, Miss Irene! The end of the ballet year has been a busy one - we had parent's day to come watch, one day to get our costumes/get lessons on how to do their makeup, a performance at the Go Girl! festival on the square, dress rehearsal and finally the grand finale - their performance! We are so proud of our little ballerina and can't wait for next year!

Makeup/costume day!

Pretty ballerinas!

Up close - ballerina stage makeup and funny smile on! :)

I was a little sad when I found out that the girls were chosen to perform at the Go Girl! festival on the square - only because it was the weekend I was going to be in the Hamptons! All went smoothly though and Ryan took a video for me - it was precious! Thank goodness for all of the grandparents for all of the help that weekend - and especially for all of the help getting Ali ready for her big performance! (and kudos to Ryan for getting it all done!) Here are a few pictures he took for me of their practice right before their debut on the square....

Three ballerinas ready for dress rehearsal!

Dress rehearsal - on the big stage at the Jennie T. Anderson Theatre....

Three ballerinas ready for their big debut!

And a few recital day shots...after her big performance!

2011 CEE Pictures

2011-06-14T12:32:00.001-07:00

2010-2011 was a great year for us at the CEE! Both of my girls loved their teachers and classes and we are already missing them tremendously! Ali has already told me a few times that she is ready to go back to school....even though school has only been out for 2.5 weeks and we have been busy going to the beach, going to Kids in the Kitchen and Nursery camp last week and VBS this week! (plus, playdates and pool trips with friends in the meantime!)

School pictures sure have come a long way - check out Ali and Rhodes' 2011 school pictures! Aren't they precious? So thankful for amazing photographers like Shelli Allen!

Love this one of my two favorite girls!

New website!

2011-06-04T14:45:00.000-07:00

Ryan just finished working on the firm's new website! Check it out!

http://smithtumlin.com/

Singing praise!

2011-05-18T11:19:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, the Melody Makers choir performed at Wednesday Night Supper. Ali was soo excited about performing and was so into it - she did fantastic! We were so proud of our little singer! We have a video on our camcorder, but I am not sure how to transfer it on here, so hopefully you can see through the pictures how excited and into the performance she was! :)
(She is on the front row, second from the left - with the big hot pink bow in her hair!)

They are such a precious little group and we have so enjoyed our first year of choir! It is something I hope that Ali (and Rhodes) will enjoy for years to come!

End of the year festivities!

2011-05-18T07:27:00.000-07:00

May is here (and is somehow already have way over!) - and I love the feeling of excitement I get at this time of year! I have been counting down the days for school to get out and summer to be here! (although I have a feeling in a few weeks, I will be ready for it to all start again!) I sometimes feel like I am still a little kid and have been dreaming about lazy days in our pjs, at the pool, at the beach, camps and fun family time!!

As all of the girls activities and school have been coming to an end - we have had fun celebrating the end of the year with parties and fun!

Ali had her end of the year Beach bash last week - of course it was on the coldest day we have had in weeks and it had to be moved inside - but it was still fun! I had fun planning the party and got to make the little buckets for the kids' lunches....
Ms. Garrett and Ms. Kelly's threes....we have loved this little class and our teachers this year!
Ali and Mary Mac....

Rhodes also had her last day of gymnastics last week....which ended with an awards ceremony! She LOVED it and was precious! Here are some pictures of her on her last day...
She tends to space out a lot at gymnastics - unless there is jumping involved! :)

Dancing to "The Lion sleeps tonight!"
Everyone was supposed to be resting like the lions in the song....notice Rhodeso....
My little gymnast!

This one is my favorite - Rhodes Patrick, #1 gymnast!

And, finally, a few last day of school pictures!

Ali has loved this year with Ms. Kelly and Ms. Garrett!
Last day of school sisters!

Rhodes was not in the mood for the paparazzi - but, the best picture I could get of her with her favorite toddler teachers - Ms. Brooke and Ms. Lauren!
So thankful for our wonderful teachers this year!

To celebrate our last day of school this year, we headed out for ice cream with the Grundmeyers and the Claytons!

Love my little shining stars and so proud of them for this fun year we have had this year! Now, bring on summer!

More Easter 2010!

2011-05-18T06:58:00.000-07:00

Oh, how we love Easter time! So many eggs to hunt, bunnies to take pictures with and friends to see!

We had one day where we party hopped to three different Easter egg hunts!

First one, was at 9:00 sharp at the club - we got there at 9 on the dot and almost missed it!

Then, we headed over to Libby Brumby's precious first birthday party!

Then, to Mimi and Papa's for a neighborhood egg hunt! The girls were egg hunting pros by this one - Rhodes piled her basket high full of eggs and Ali went straight for the gold (metallic purple) egg and won a prize!
We also had fun decorating Easter eggs...

Writing notes to the Easter bunny... (Note - Ali does NOT want any special gift giving characters to come inside the house - as in, the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus. Instead, she wants to make sure I tell them to leave the presents outside - that way she will rest easier the night before the big holidays! Cracks me up - and sure helps the sleeping in part of holidays - Ali did not dare leave her room on Easter morning until we came to get her - for fear the Easter bunny may accidentally have missed the note and may still be lolly gagging around our house! :))

We posted these notes outside our house - on our fence. The first one says "Dear Easter Bunny", second says "Hide our eggs and please leave candy!". (we're going to have to work on being more polite to the Easter bunny!!)

And opening Easter morning surprises!

Of course, my camera died after these last two - but, all in all, our favorite part of the Easter season is celebrating the true reason for the season. Ryan and I attended the Maundy Thursday service this year at our church and it was so moving. It is a service I hope to never miss again! Then, on Sunday morning, we of course met my family at church - and squeezed into the row with them! There is also nothing sweeter than being in a packed church on Easter morning - with no seats left in the house - celebrating the resurrection of our Savior and singing Easter hymns with fellow Christians. Hallelujah!

All Afloat on Noah's Boat

2011-05-13T12:22:00.000-07:00

Every year, the twos and threes at Ali and Rhodesy's school put on a spring "musical". The past two years, it has been All Afloat on Noah's Boat - so this year, Ali was a pro! I have some good videos I need to add - but, until then, these pictures will show our little performer in action. She is in the back row, in the middle, (big white bow) next to her best bud, Mary Mac. She was precious and we were so proud of her, once again! :)
Little Mimi was the star performer up front too!

Happy Mother's Day 2011!

2011-05-09T14:00:00.000-07:00

I have so many posts to catch up on, but wanted to start here as I am still excited after a very fun Mother's Day weekend! If you are someone I talk to semi-frequently -you have heard me talk about this trip I had been so excited & anxious about for months! This past weekend, I finally went on this trip - a trip of a lifetime - to the Hamptons! I was so nervous about flying, yet so excited to get to an amazing place and celebrate one of my best friends since zero...this girl.... (on a way in our Expedition to the Hamptons!)

We spent the weekend in an amazing spot - 16 fun girls....70 degree weather with clear skies...and a 10 bedroom/12 bathroom house in Southampton = perfection! I did not take my camera and this does not do it justice - but here is the one picture I got of our massive backyard. This link gives more pictures, but still doesn't do it justice!!

We spent the bachelorette weekend having lots of good girl time, eating lots of good food, and doing lots of fun bachelorette things. Some of the highlights (that I can mention on a blog! :) include...

A trip to this place...Duckwalk Vineyards

An outing to Tate's Bake Shop....
And, finally, on our way out of town - we stopped in one of our favorite breakfast restaurants we found on the island and had a celebrity spotting....Spotted...Lily Bass....(aka Kelly Rutherford of Gossip Girl)...it was a great way to leave our fabulous weekend away! She was literally standing next to us - but AMGW snuck this iphone picture inconspicuously from the restaurant... It really was the perfect weekend!! And as much fun as I had, I was so excited to be going home to my three loves! I thought I was going out to the car to meet them - but found them before I even made it to baggage claim, waiting there, gifts and flowers in hand....the best Mother's Day gift of all was to see their three huge smiles waiting for me! I brought the girls some cool NYC sunglasses :)........
Some of the loot I was given when I saw them.... (Love that Ali says I am "40" years old on this one!)

Best Mother's Day ever. :)

Happy birthday Papa!

2011-04-26T05:53:00.000-07:00

I have had pictures I have been meaning to blog about for over a week now and with all of the craziness of tax day, Easter, Spud, etc - I am just now getting around to it!

Happy belated birthday to the first apple of my eye - my dad!! My mom invited us all over last Sunday (4/17) - to celebrate and have dinner with my dad on his birthday! Thank you, Mom, for getting us all together and for a great dinner - we even had all of the dogs, including Spud, there for one last hoorah! The girls loved helping Papa open his presents....

And LOVED his new Wii dance game - Just Dance! What can I say...these girls (and their daddy!) have some moves!

Happy birthday dad - we love you more than you will ever know! :)

Fuse Soccer 2011!

2011-04-25T05:47:00.000-07:00

For the past six weeks or so, Ali has been playing FUSE soccer at the church! It's for six Sundays at 3:00 - the kids practice for half an hour, then play a game the second half. Ryan and Brian Holle helped coach and Ali and Libby enjoyed looking cute on the soccer field....not sure they were that into actually playing the game! :) Ali started off the season not wanting to get off the bench - but, by the end, she actually made it on field and played a little. We're hoping next season will bring us her first game kick! :)

Rhodesy and I had to miss a few games due to naps (games were right smack in the middle of nap time!), but we made it to the last game sans a nap and still in our church clothes! :)

Their favorite spot...

Good game!

Ali and Libby with their end of season trophies... future soccer stars??

Rhodes wanted to get in the picture!

The girls with the daddies/coaches

After the last game, the Varsity catered and there was face painting, a balloon lady, and a few bounce houses! This one was Rhodes' favorite....she would go down and give the crowd a show as her dress flew up completely over her head and she would bounce back up grinning from ear to ear! It was hilarious!

So much fun!

In loving memory...

2011-04-22T17:56:00.000-07:00

It is with a heavy heart that I write this post...today the Tumlin clan lost a great part of our family...someone that has been a part of our family for half of my life, brought so much love, joy and happiness to our lives for the past 16 years...Spud Maverick Tumlin. :) I think Sig was in 6th grade when we got him for his birthday and we named him with that awesome middle name. It has been a hard day. To be honest, it has been something we have been expecting for awhile...but it still doesn't make it any easier. He has lived a great, long, happy life and we have all been so lucky to have had him in our lives! In early December, almost exactly 16 years after he entered our lives, he started struggling to walk. He has had issues with hypothyroidism (runs in the family! :)), seizures, then hearing, old age, etc - but he has been such a trooper. His back legs started to give out and after years of hoping he would keep living a long life, our family faced the fact that the end was in sight. We spent a weekend in December together, saying our sad "goodbyes" to Spud and it was like all of the love gave him a second wind and instead of putting him to sleep then, my parents and the vet decided it was not time just yet and he was given some prednisone and we have loved all of the extra time we have gotten to spend with one loved and loving dog. This past week, (and before) Spud's legs have just given out and he could no longer walk with his back legs. His loving heart and sweet spirit was still going strong but his body was weak and could no longer keep up. What an incredibly sad day for our family and especially for my parents having to make the decision to lose such a special part of our family - but they stood by him in the end and hugged him, told him they loved him and said goodbye as he kept kissing the vet! My heart tries to believe that a soul like Spud's has to be in Heaven now where it belongs! :)

(These pictures are from December when we thought we were having to say goodbye!) I went to my parents house this morning for a few hours and hugged him and made sure he knew how much we loved him one last time! Part of me wishes I could turn back time and go back to yesterday when he was still here - but, I know it was time and he is in a much happier place now with so much relief! We love you Spuddy and will miss you always!

Easter Egg Hunt 2011

2011-04-18T11:33:00.000-07:00

Another busy, fun weekend! After thunderstorms and tornado sirens all Friday night, we woke up to a fun, but busy day! I headed out the door to host a wedding shower for a good friend from high school (Lindsey), while Ryan and the girls headed to the Atlanta History Center for a fun morning with grandmommy and granddaddy! After our first stops, we all headed to The Commons neighborhood for the third annual Easter egg hunt. We helped host this year with the Lowery/Morris family and it was so much fun! We had 150 Marietta children there - fun, organized chaos pretty much sums it up!

My little egg hunters...

And they're off!

Ali found a silver egg - she was SO excited! (it may have helped that she had helped set up/throw the eggs out that morning!) :)
Rhodes wanted it for herself!
Ali and two of her sweet friends from school - Lucas and Caroline...
Pinata time!
Water break!
Ali and her prize!

After all the eggs were hunted, the goody bags were given out, pictures were taken and pinata was knocked down - all of the kids LOVED playing with the start line ribbon that was cut down to start the race!

Sweet Lily Boon
My little Easter angels with Doe Doe bunny!
Thank you to all of our friends for coming out - I love this sweet Marietta tradition and am so excited to be apart of it! I'm not sure my girls know how good they have it and what a fun neighborhood/community we live in! :)

Spring Break 2011

2011-04-09T12:01:00.001-07:00

This was definitely my favorite beach trip yet! I was thinking about it and the last 5 years I have either been pregnant at the beach or at the beach with a less than one year old or one year old and packing up and I was exhausted just thinking about going to the beach and packing everything up! This year, the girls are at such a fun age and LOVED the beach!

This little one was in pure Heaven - she could have played in the waves for hours! (there were a lot less jelly fish on day two thanks to wind and waves!)

Ali loved the ocean too but preferred to be in the sand relaxing, playing in the sand and playing paddle ball!

Poor thing could not keep her bathing suit bottoms up!

It was the perfect, relaxing trip! (well, as relaxing as it can be with two children ages 2 & 4!) The both really were great and played hard, slept great - and we loved getting to have daddy off work for a few days to help and play with!

We had fun eating at some of our favorite restaurants! (the girls love to check out this mermaid outside of Gnat's Landing - one of our favorites!)

Ali and I got mani/pedis while Rhodes napped one day! I think I have created a monster - she was in Heaven! It may have to become a ritual of ours and we can't wait for Rhodes to be old enough to be able to sit still and join us!

We did lots of walking in our stroller...

And of course hit up every playground on the island where lots of swinging was of course involved....

But, with a background like this, I didn't mind pushing them all day! :)

As soon as we got in the car to head home, I got out my calendar to start figuring out when we can come back. We have a week long trip planned for July but I can't wait that long!!

Our spring break continued with more fun! We stopped by Macon on the way home to meet the newest member of the McNeel family, Lynde! She was precious and the girls, of course, loved playing with Harry!

On Friday, we headed to the zoo and this was unfortunately the only picture I made it home with - eating cotton candy on our way out! The zoo was a zoo as it was the Friday of Spring break, but the girls were great, we saw lots of animals and had fun with fun friends!!

We definitely have spring fever around here and can't wait for a spring and summer outside with fun things to do!!

Beach bums in action!

2011-04-09T11:59:00.000-07:00

I got a couple short videos of the girls in action (thanks to Ryan's iphone!) on the beach! They were in Heaven! :)

2.5 years of Rhodes!

2011-04-04T04:50:00.001-07:00

Can't believe my baby girl is already 2 and a half years old! I don't remember what life was like before Rhodeso entered our lives - she has filled this household full of laughter (LOTS of it!), joy, energy (and exhaustion!), and so much more! She amazes us every day with the things she says! She is a child who dives into life head first - not afraid of much, a smile constantly on her face and a tear rarely in her eye! I must say - she is also not afraid of throwing a fit or trying to get her way - even when her Mama tells her no ma'am! She is our family's comedian - even her teachers tell me how she is one of the funniest kids they have ever met. She does funny things at school like eat her friend's (especially her bffs in class - Lee and Webb) lunches when no one is looking! :) She loves to sing songs like the Veggietales theme song, her ABCs, Old McDonald, B-I-N-G-O and everything in between. When she sings, she sings loud and clear for all to hear! ;) It is my goal to get a video on here asap of her blurting out her favorite show, Veggietales, theme song. Hilarious! She loves to run around and play outside (and of course swing!), play in the ocean/pool, do gymnastics and jump on the trampoline and the girl just really loves life! She has the type of personality where she will just go, go, go until she crashes...and crashes hard! She adores her big sister and thinks all of Ali's little friends are her best buddies too. Whenever we have playdates, they are always three little amigos. Both Ali and Rhodes' teachers tell me that Rhodes is like a local celebrity when both of their classes happen to pass in the hall or end up in the playroom at the same time on a rainy day. There was one day, Rhodes' teacher told me that it was like the paparazzi and when all of the little girls in Ali's class spotted Rhodes (including Ali) they swarmed around her and at one point had a circle around her and when Rhodes made her way out from all of her "fans" :) her hair was all messed up, bow had fallen out, etc. She is the perfect mix of loveable/huggable/hilarious/stinker and we love her to the moon and back! One of our favorite things she does right now is when we tell her she can't do something, she will turn away, shake her head and quietly say "oh maaaan"...it is hilarious. She also calls for me when she wakes up "Ooooh Moooomm, where are you???" - (she sounds like a teenager when she talks to me and always calls me Mom - I can just see the eye rolling I have to look forward to in about 11 years that will go with it!) We love our sweet Rhodesy more everyday and are so grateful God brought her into our lives 2.5 years ago! She has taught me so much as a mother and gives me a run for my money daily and I adore her more than she will ever know!

Just what the doctor ordered...

2011-04-03T17:40:00.001-07:00

Ahh...just in time, spring break is here! The four of us packed up our bags yesterday (Baxter had a spend the night party with my parents!) and headed to the beach. The weather has been perfect and it has been the most perfect vacation - day 1! On the way down, during moments of silence, Rhodes would blurt out with enthusiasm "We goin to da beach!!!!" - We have a beach bum on our hands! We went for a walk this morning and they were both excited about getting out of the stroller to go walk on the beach, especially Rhodes. She was squealing with giddiness when she saw it and started jumping up and down when we let her out. She also ran headfirst towards the ocean (in her smocked dress :)), whereas Ali stayed back for fear of all of the dead jellyfish on the beach (there were a ton of them!) - she was cautious and excited!

We made it to the beach and Rhodes was obsessed and excited about putting on sunscreen. She kept asking for more and giggled the entire time I put it on her! ;)
Ali loved the beach too - we left our pails and shovels at home so she loved playing golf in the sand and playing at the shore! She loved writing her letters in the sand - especially Ali, Rhodes, Dada, Mama and all of her ABCs - she loves writing these days and we are so proud of her! :)

I love the differences between my two sweet girls - they couldn't be more perfect & different (or more beautiful in their mother's humble opinion). Like I said before, there were big jellyfish all over the ocean...I was sure that Rhodes would get stung as she wanted to run out into the middle of the ocean. (Luckily - you could see them and avoid them!) She LOVED it - would have stayed in it for 24 hours and would run in, get on all fours and shout "I swimming!"...we warned her over and over about the jellyfish and Ryan kept a close eye on her (pulling her out over and over again) and luckily she made it out sting-free!! :) Ali was loving it too but we were cracking up at her... we would warn Rhodes about a jellyfish nearby and Rhodes would jump in anyway and Ali would back up,cover her eyes and say "I can't even watch her!" - and then say "Rhodes - Be careful!! There are jellyfish! You are going to get stung!" - she was worried sick Rhodes would get stung - such a mother hen! :)

There were men fishing in the ocean so Rhodes would run around with her pole (stick) and poke her stick down with a serious face and say "I'm going to catch a fish!"....she cried begging Ryan to take her fishing! Can two girls be more polar opposites? :)

Both the girls loved playing paddle ball though! They were so much fun - I can not wait to go back to the ocean tomorrow! Just wish I had remembered our camera (thank God for iphones!) and video camera to catch these two in action!

I hope the rest of our trip is as much fun as today was! :) More to come...

Whirlwind of a week!

2011-04-02T05:10:00.000-07:00

It has been a crazy week around here! I keep wanting to sit down and catch up on the blog and don't even know where to begin (Plus, unfortunately, I have no pictures to show for it!) I am in the midst of tax season and really looking forward to 4/15 and between playing tennis (I am the co-captain this season and trying to play as much as I can!), play dates, activities, schools, planning a community Easter egg hunt, etc...it's just been a busy week! :) In addition, Ryan had a big tax appeal deadline for work this week and worked most nights this week until 12:00 or later! I am so proud of him for his hard work and was so excited to see this little mention the the Marietta Daily Journal's "Around Town" section today....

ONE OF MARIETTA'S OLDEST LAW FIRMS has a new name.

Created more than 30 years ago by Don Smith, Gary Eubanks and Hap Smith as "Smith, Eubanks & Smith, P.C.", the firm changed its name this month to Smith, Tumlin, McCurley & Patrick, P.C.

"We wanted to recognize the contributions of Wayne McCurley and Ryan Patrick," said Hap Smith. "Gary Eubanks retired six years ago and Don Smith and I are happy to share the Smith name."

Marietta Mayor Steve Tumlin joined the firm in 1996 and the name was changed to Smith, Eubanks, Smith & Tumlin.

Don Smith remains the anchor of the firm that officially began in 1980 after he, Eubanks and Hap Smith began practicing together in 1976 with the firm of Custer, Smith & Eubanks, headed by the late Larry Custer.

"It's a good change for us," Smith said. "Wayne has been a great member of the firm and Ryan is our future. He will be running the firm before you know it."

Patrick graduated from Mercer Law School in 2005 and came to Marietta from a Gwinnett County firm. His practice is concentrated in business and real estate transactions, corporate work and estate planning. He is married to the former Jamie Tumlin and is the father of Ali and Rhodes.

McCurley is a long time and highly respected real estate lawyer who graduated from Mercer Law in 1986 who joined the firm in 1993. He and his wife Anita have three grown children.

*You can also find it here...there is a picture in the actual paper too!

We are all looking forward to a relaxing few days at the beach to catch up and slow down for a little bit...and hopefully lots of pictures to come! Happy spring break!

Spring, spring, spring!

2011-03-25T18:49:00.000-07:00

I forget every year about the feeling I get inside the second I smell spring in the air and feel the first breeze......maybe I have a case of seasonal affective disorder? If so, thank goodness it's spring....

And, man, it feels sooo good....makes me just want to spend 24/7 (or more likely 9/7) outside and feel the feeling of spring outside....

I am excited of what's to come this spring! We have been busy with birthday parties, get togethers with friends, soccer, work, life and we feel blessed!

I thank God every night for this beautiful weather and, most especially, for my little blessings...

(Love these little dirty faced monster/princesses) :)

**Thanks to the Teddy and Boon photographers for capturing a few pictures - I have been such a bad photographer lately - a/k/a - bad blogger.

Friday Funday!

2011-03-12T06:48:00.000-08:00

Just realized that I started this post a few days ago and my little "helper" published it before I even had a chance to type! :) Just a few pictures from my iphone from this past week. We continue to stay busy and sometimes we have to cool off with some DQ.... *Ali was so excited that Dairy Queen was not just a "swim house" treat - but there is also one in Marietta! (Even though we have been to this one before - she had it in her mind as a St. Simons signature restaurant!)
On Friday night, the whole Patrick clan split up to go on our own different excursions...

Ali got to go on a special date night with her Papa to the Huddle House and to go see Ruth Mitchell's production of Peter Pan....she was SO excited....

This Mama got to go out with fun friends to go see Bethenny Frankel at the Cobb Energy Center...a big thank you to Laura for the box seats! It was so much fun!
Bethenny's husband, Jason, (if you even know who she is!) was sitting right below us - unfortunately, my iphone did not have zoom - but he is sitting in this row right by the microphone)

And, last but not least, Ryan and Rhodes had so much fun on a daddy/daughter night playing and eating with friends! (cute picture here...http://littlehappything.blogspot.com/) I have to admit - we have a lot of nights out - but I have major mother's guilt leaving my entire family - including Ryan - on a Friday night! I was thrilled to be able to go out guilt free knowing Ali was excited to have some special one on one time with her papa and Rhodes was having some with her daddy (and with her friends - she never gets a playdate where she isn't the "little sister!").