Jazz & Rib Fest 08'

This past weekend we went to tha Jazz & Rib Festival held downtown on the Riverfront. Samaya enjoyed being downtown & taking in all the sights and sounds of the festival. She particularly loved wading in the fountain, playing in the children's play area, eating a chocolate ice cream cone, & the balloon the folks at the Smooth Jazz radio station gave her ("Everbody loves my balloon!" she reported to me). I enjoyed playing Wii fit at the Wii demo booth (followed by ice cream w/ Samaya). Todd enjoyed tickling the girls on our blanket under the tree. And Aleesha Mae enjoyed-you guessed it- the eating! She even tried to eat the Barack Obama sticker a volunteer had put on her dress (maybe she's a Republican?). Don't tell her she slept through the ice cream! And we all enjoyed just relaxing together as a family & listening to some great live jazz! I tried to put a slide show of our pix from the festival up on here, so hopefully you'll be able to check them out!

Samaya Cooks Breakfast!

This morning I was fixing breakfast when Samaya came into the kitchen and asked, "Can I help?!" So I told her when her toast was done she could spread the jelly on it. She was so excited to be able to help! She shouted, "I'll go get my stool!" And ran up to the bathroom to get her little step stool that she uses to reach the sink. She came back to the kitchen, parked her stool by the counter, & reported for duty. She was very serious as she spread the jam on her toast teeny bit by teeny bit ("you have to be careful & take your time so you don't spill" she informed me). It took her forever, but she was so proud of herself when she carried her plate to the table. It taught me a good lesson on how having a little bit of patience with your kids can really pay off for them (& yourself when you see how pleased they are with themselves).

Pa-Pa Norman Visits!

Yesterday Todd's dad came down from Lima, OH for a visit. It was a beautiful summer day & we all had a great time! Samaya enjoyed telling pa-pa all about pre-school & her life as a three-year-old. We cooked out, so I'm sure you can all guess what Aleesha Mae enjoyed the most! (green beans, baked beans, banana pudding......)

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY A'TREVIUS KAJINAY!

My niece, Tay's little boy will be one tomorrow (Tuesday)! What a big boy he has gotten to be! When we visited them in South Carolina in May he was already walking & talking! I guess he'll be driving before too long! (Granny Damita better start saving for that car)! (The first pix is of the birthday boy, Tre' & his mommy (Tay), Aleesha planting a wet one on Tre (or is he planting it on her?) Definitely "kissing cousins!"

Afternoon Fun!

I forgot to mention, there is something that Aleesha Mae enjoys as much as eating....swimming! Or anything water related for that matter (baths, sinks, flushing toilets). Today when Todd got home for work, we went for a walk around the neighborhood. Before we left, he got the pool all ready, so when we got back the pool was ready for the girls to dive in! Samaya needed a couple of reminders not to splash Aleesha Mae, & Aleesha needed a couple of reminders not to eat the grass, but otherwise everyone had a great time! (I think the picture of me w/ the girls does a good job of capturing the love between Samaya & Aleesha Mae. One of the joys of having a second child has been watching the interaction between the two of them. Samaya is such a great big sister! She has pretty much always found a way to work her way into our bed by the morning. So of course w/ Aleesha Mae I was pretty adamant about not letting her sleep in our bed to avoid the same battles we go through w/ Samaya. However, ever since we got back from Florida, Aleesha has not got back completely into her old sleep routine & I discovered that I could sneak in a couple of extra hours in the morning by bringing Aleesha to bed & nursing her back to sleep there. I was not sure what Samaya's reaction would be to this, because w/all the attention a new baby can get, being able to sleep in Mommy & Daddy's bed had remained one area that had not been affected. So, my heart was so happy this morning when Samaya woke up & the first thing she did was state, "I wanna come lay by Aleesha." I told her OK, & she climbed over me to go snuggle next to Aleesha, giving her a couple of kisses on the forehead along the way! And Aleesha just beams when she sees her big sissy! My hope is that they will always have this special closeness w/ each other).

Pre-school Update

Samaya's teachers report that she is doing great at school, and Samaya also says that she really likes going to school & seeing all of her friends. Samaya did tell me, however that she did not like the part where her teacher told her not to put food in her milk!

Drinking Popsicles, Magical Dragons, & a Brawl at the "Sunshine" Corral!

The other day Samaya asked for a popsicle. When I went to hand it to her she began to cry (very dramatically the way only a three year old girl can) & stated "Mooommy, I wanted a drinking popsicle, not a licking popsicle!" (As you can see, I was able to quickly put away the popsicle on the stick & replace it w/ a freezy pop, making Samaya a happy camper!) Who knew there was a difference?!

Yesterday Samaya was in the bathroom & had been in there for a while. I peeked my head in & she was just sitting on the pot, happily chatting up a storm. I said, "Who are you talking to, sweetie?" And she replied, "The magical dragons in the bathtub--see?"

This past weekend, Samaya was following me around playing "mommy" w/ her baby copying whatever I was doing w/ Aleesha. When I changed Aleesha's diaper, she changed her baby's diaper, when I gave Aleesha her binky, she gave her baby its binky. So of course when I said it was time to feed Aleesha I guess that meant it was time to feed the baby to. I was completely shocked when I turned around from fixing snack to find Samaya's baby in the highchair complete w/a bib on! (And in case I haven't mentioned it, Aleesha Mae LOVES to eat, so she was not so down w/ Samaya's baby trying to bogart in on her lunch! It was a knock down, drag-em-out, but Aleesha prevailed. Don't mess w/ her food!

To Sequel or Not to Sequel?

Todd went to see Hellboy 2 yesterday. To be polite, I asked him how the movie was (even though its not one I'd want to see) & he replied, "It was alright." He sounded kind of ho-hum about it, so I asked him was it because it wasn't as good as the first one? Which got me thinking about that ongoing debate about if a sequel can ever be as good as the first movie.......I'd like to hear what others have to say on the topic. In general, I tend to say no, however, I'm not the biggest movie buff in the world so I am not an expert in this area. I tried to think of some examples of where the sequel was just as good, if not better. I came up with Back to the Future II & Terminator 2. Which led me to another question: if the sequel to a movie was just as good or better than the first one & they make a third one, can you think of an example where the third one met the same expectations? This one has me stumped. In my earlier example, I never saw Terminator 3 so I can't say (although that I'm inclined to think that if it was that good, I'd have seen it) & Back to the Future III was pretty good, but I think you could make a definite argument about how it compared to the first two. What other examples can you think of? (Oh, & by the way--Todd said he would not recommend Hellboy 2).

Thanks For Checkin' Out My Blog!

I've been having so much fun blogging & sharing our world with you! I hope you all enjoy it! Thanks William for convincing me I should do it!

Aleesha Mae's 1st Bike Ride!

Samaya is Officially a "Pre-Schooler!"

Samaya started pre-school last Tuesday! She will be attending on Tuesdays & Wednesdays. No stranger to school, from attending Mother's Day Out programs this past year, you can see she was extremely excited to be going to her "big girl school!" After dancing around singing, "First day of school! First day of school!" Samaya stopped and asked me what must have been the pressing question on her mind....."Mommy, do they have a potty at school that I can go pee-pee in?" (By the way, Samaya's teachers reported that she had a great first day! Guess she found the potty!)

A Three Year Old's Interpretation

A little while ago Todd said he was going upstairs to take a power nap before we go out to dinner. After I was done getting Samaya ready, we went up to her room to get some shoes & she saw Todd laying down on our bed & stated, "There's Daddy taking his strong nap! Why did he have to take a strong nap?"

Aleesha Mae is Nine Months Old!

Can you believe it? On the 5th she officially turned nine months & this past Thursday we went for her nine month check-up. She weighs 20lbs11oz which put her in the 75th percentile for weight (she was in the 95th percentile for height)! Guess she's gonna be tall like her sissy.

What a joy it has been watching her grow & learn & fall in love w/her big sister! Aleesha Mae at nine months old loves eating, crawling, pulling up, saying "dada", eating, clapping her hands (a trick she learned while we were in Florida), saying & waving "bye-bye", eating, laughing, playing w/ big sissy, playing the moroccos, oh-did I mention eating!

Laundry Update!

While tackling all of my laundry from vacation, I've discovered something: when dealing with young children, there is a direct correlation between how dirty there clothes are & the amount of fun they had! Case in point I pulled out one of Samaya's outfits that was covered on just about every inch with some type of dirt or stain. My immediate thought was, "what was she doing on the day she wore this?!" And then I remembered she had worn it on the Fourth, the day we had a family cookout at my Aunt Betty & Uncle Williams' house. Well, Samaya spent pretty much that entire day outside w/her cousins playing, digging, running... basically having the time of her life. Thank goodness for Stain Stick, bleach, & Shout!

Fashion Diva!

So yesterday as I was finishing typing my post, Samaya told me she was going upstairs to "get dressed." I was curious to see what that would entail, because Samaya has never really picked out her own clothes before (& isn't totally efficient at dressing herself yet). When I saw her outfit I had to get a pix (before trying to convince her that it was too hot to wear her fleece pullover). It took about 20 minutes of negotiating, but I finally managed to get her into a T-shirt & shorts. And so that age old clothing battle that occurs between mothers & daughters I guess has officially begun for me & Samaya!

Typical Day

Good Morning! It's Friday & I'm putting off running my errands, so I decided to make a post. Me & the girls are going grocery shopping today. It's a much needed trip since I haven't gone since before we left for Florida last week (more about that in a later post). Grocery shopping for me usually means stopping at two or three stores so I can take advantage of the sales & my coupons. Luckily I live w/in about a five mile radius to all of them. I also need to hit the bank. Then back home to do laundry (which has not been done since we got back from Florida earlier this week). I know, its a glamorous life! But in all honestly, I wouldn't trade it for anything (well, maybe the laundry), because I forgot to mention the part where me, Samaya, & Aleesha Mae spent the morning cuddling in bed! Or the part where me & Aleesha Mae shared applesauce for breakfast. Or the part where Samaya & Aleesha Mae are currently chasing each other around the living room giggling up a storm! Speaking of giggling, I'd really better try to get out of the house while everyone is still in a good mood! Have a great day!

My Dad's Honduras Trip

My dad left Monday on a mission trip w/ his church to Honduras. They will be building a church while they are there. The mission team has blog I thought folks might be interested in checking out. Of particular interest is the daily devotional they're doing each day which is included in the blog. I know they would appreciate your prayers!

Well, here we go!

So, with a lot of inspiration from my cousins Billy (William) & Nikki (Andrea), I'm attempting to start a blog! Billy says it's really not hard at all, but we'll see. Anyway, my main goal is to have a format for my family and friends to share the happenings of our life, in particular, my two little "angels" Samaya & Aleesha. With any luck, maybe I'll actually be able to add some pix, too...but let me not get ahead of myself! So welcome to my blog--may it live well & prosper!