Little Swimmer

I'm kind of nervous and excited to take Isabella to swim lessons soon. I've already been on youtube watching other babies learn to swim. It's a little scarey to watch them, but they do so great. Casey Dycus (Gunnels) mom Stephanie is teaching them at her house the week of June 23rd. I got a "Mommy/Baby" class together for that week. I'm going to practice some water activities at mom's the next couple of weeks to get her ready for them. She seems to really love the water right now, but she doesn't like being in floats. She stayed in this hippo one for a little bit. But she wines when I start to put her in one. I usually let her walk around in mom's baby pool holding her hands. She seems to love that the best. Here are a few pictures from today at the pool. We usually only make it about an hour in a half to two hours before the heat gets to her. She's been asleep for almost two hours now from all the fun in the sun. (Which is how I'm getting to post this blog :)

Here are some pictures from the zoo. Amanda and Tessa went with us last week. It was so hot! The girls had a great time. Peter was working that day as usual. He is so good. He got us dippin' dots, lunch, and whatever we asked of him. He was there for us. It was Tessa's first time to visit the zoo so was excited to see the animals, especially the alligators. You can't even tell Amanda is 6 months pregnant!

Abbie and Lillie turned 4 on May 28th. We celebrated their birthday this past Saturday. They had a princess birthday party. It was a lot of fun. They are so pretty and so tall! Their favorite present was the princess costumes they got from their mom and dad and they love the fishing poles Peter and I got them. They had a pinata and when the candy fell on the floor Isabella ran for it! Not literally of course, but she wriggled herself out of my arms to get to it. She hopped down in the middle of all the candy and started sweeping it up in her lap. It was halarious. She may be little, but she can run with the best of them. I remember them when the girls were Isabella's age. I was their nanny when they were 6 weeks old until about 2 off and on. They are such sweet little girls.

Dinner, Ponies, and Cows

The other day the whole family went out to dinner except Peter. As you may guess, he was working. It was me, Isabella, Mom, Arles, Amanda, Greg, and Tessa. We all went to eat at Calhouns. Arles was playing peekaboo with Isabella and she just laughed and laughed. Her and Tessa squeal together everywhere they go. One gets the other wound up and there it goes. High pitched little girl squeals that'll turn heads for sure. We had a good time. It had been a while since we all went out to eat together. After eating, I rode with Mom and Arles, Isabella and Tessa. Amanda and Greg went shopping for a little bit so we decided to stop by the farm and take a look at the ponies and cows. Arles tried so hard to catch the baby pony so the girls could pet it, but was unsuccessful. He sure was funny trying to catch that little thing. The cows were a different story. They surrounded the fence so we got to get close up pictures of them. Not as pretty as the ponies, and much smellier than the ponies. But it was fun for the girls to see them.

Here's a few more of her 9 month pics:

Isabella's 9 month pics

Several months ago I went to the funeral home for one of my Kindergartener's grandmother who had passed away very unexpectedly. I went not knowing a single person but ended up meeting many. One of them was a second cousin to my student and little did I know we would bump into each other months later on our blog sites (Melissa Toms Designs). She does custom orders for cards, invitations, and some photography. She was nice enough to take Isabella's 9 month pictures for me. Small world huh? So, here are a few of them. We took them at mom's several weeks ago. She of course did not have a nap that day (dejavu from her 6 month pics) but she ended up making some really sweet pictures anyway. It never fails when you want your child to rest for some special event, that's the day they don't! Well, I hope you like them. I can't believe she'll be 11 months on June 11th!

She looks like she's singing a song here! Future American Idol?

New Baby On the Way!

No it's not me! Not yet anyway. But Amanda is having a BOY! Harrison Kale Tomlin. Don't you just love that name? Greg picked Kale and Harrison is named after Greg's dad Harry. I thought it was really cool. Amanda is 20 weeks pregnant and she is just beautiful pregnant. We were talking about being pregnant yesterday at the park and we both agreed it's such a neat, unexplainable thing when you have a baby growing inside you. You feel different (other than the obvious), you hold yourself different, you think different. It's like during that time, you're almost a different person. That's how it was with me anyway. I felt special. In the Bible it says that God knew us before we were formed in our mother's womb. That we have a special purpose in this life that He designed specifically for us before we were created. That means Harrison has been with Jesus before he was being formed in Amanda. His little spirit was with God and in God's timing he was placed in her belly. That is so fascinating to me. I wish I could remember being with God before I was created. Don't you? I think about friends that are having a hard time getting pregnant. We don't always know why some women get pregnant easier than others, but God does. God knows when each and every baby will be born. He knows their birth date and exact time He wants them on this earth. What an encouragement that is. I am so excited to see little Harrison. Finally a boy in the mix of mostly girls! Oh how spoiled he will be! And how blessed WE will be!

My 1st Mother's Day

I had a wonderful 1st Mother's Day. Isabella got me a beautiful ruby necklace since that's her birthstone. Peter got me a director's chair for my classroom that I love. I've been wanting one forever. Mom got me a circle ruby necklace with a diamond circle in the middle of it. It was really pretty too. I didn't take pictures today, which I can't believe, but I didn't. So I had Peter take one of me and Isabella tonight. I looked terrible and Isabella was really cranky and tired, so I decicded not to post one. Don't think you'd want to see it. 0 u/0m/ i. u Isabella decided to jump on here and type a little something. Not quite sure what that means, but it kind of looks like "mom".? Anyway, I can't believe how many wrinkles I have now! I'm seeing them in all my pictures. I guess it's about that time, but it snuck up on me really fast. That's another reason why I'm not posting that picture from tonight. :) I can't believe it's Mother's Day. I absolutely LOVE being a mommy. I always knew I would, but now that I am I can say it and really mean it. She's just grown into this precious personality. You'll notice in some of these pictures just how silly she can be. She claps all the time, hugs all the time, still squeals, and loves to play with balls. Maybe she'll take after me and play volleyball and softball.

I am so thankful for my mom. She's such a sweet woman and so very thoughtful. I really love her and appreciate her for so many things. I can't imagine how hard it was to have two little twin girls at such a young age to raise practically on her own. I don't know how she had any brains. I feel like I don't have any a lot of the time and I only have 1. She's been keeping Isabella 3-4 days a week since she was 5 months old. She's so good with her. Isabella hugged her forever the other day because she hadn't seen her in a few days. Mom can get her laughing and squealing like nobody else can. It's so cute. Thank you Mom for all you do for me and Isabella. I love you so much! Happy Mother's Day! This first picture she's eating grass. I can't keep it out of her mouth!

Sweet Times Together

Isabella and I have been so busy lately. I try to get her out of the house as much as possible when it's pretty outside. This is her first spring/summer to be outside and she loves it! She loves to eat grass, swing at Krista's house, play with Tessa at Gigi's house, and go shopping (or strolling :) She went swimming for the first time at Vanderbilt Marriott this week. Her cousins were in town so they went for a swim at the hotel. She loved the water! She had her serious face on for a long time trying to figure out what the pool was then she started playing with Mattie and Mary making silly noises and laughing. It was so cute! She'll have a ball with swim lessons this summer.

These pictures are from dinner at Maggiano's of Italy downtown. It was so good! I couldn't believe how much food they give you. I ordered 1/2 order and I got so much food a whole family could eat on it for a week! My co-workers were happy, I took the leftovers to work for them. Isabella was so tired she was delirious, but she was so good at dinner! I couldn't believe how good she was.

These pictures are from the other night right before her bedtime. When she gets her second wind at night watch out! She gets so playful. This first picture looks like she might be crying, but she's actually laughing really really hard. She is so much fun.

She's been hugging all the time now. She hugs those she's with a lot. Me, Peter, Gigi, and Aunt Amanda. I love it! Oh it's so sweet when those tiny arms squeeze my neck. So sweet....

She loves peek-a-boo....

She loves her baby doll (she tries to pick the lashes off her eyes) and her
stuffed bear that snores......

Look at those bottom teeth. She has a total of 4 right now.....She loves her bear so much!