Cutie kiddos

Here is Xander...7 months young. Angelina's a ballerina waiting to go to Disney On Ice. We had a blast! :) I love my kids!

Xander's new discoveries

Ok, so a funny thing has happened in the last couple days! Xander has made two discoveries. The first is his voice. Our little man is talking/screeching/yelling up a storm--especially when he is hungry!

The second discovery is his penis!!! haha. Seriously though, during diaper changes I have to prevent him from tearing it off! Gotta love little boys!

Xander man

I feel terrible about this, but I don't really write much about Xander! Not that there isn't enough to write about. Let's see...I'll catch you up. He's the sweetest, most curious and chill little boy. An avid thumb-sucker, his favorite past-time is staring longingly at his big sister. According to Xander (not that he can talk), Angelina hung the moon and stars. He is in love! And as Angelina tells me, "I'm going to marry Xander one day Mommy". So sweet. I just keep praying that my children continue to love each other like they do now (sigh).

Xander is desperately wanting to be mobile and do what big sister does. He can sit up all by himself (started at 5 1/2 months). He is eating big boy food (4 months) and is always up for a chat with his sister. He currently is in a relationship with his teacher at school, Ms. Candice. We call her his girlfriend. I am chopped liver if she is around. He doesn't want anything to do with me if he can see her. Honestly, I kind of like that he is someone's favorite at school though. It's comforting to know that someone else thinks he's the greatest little boy around! Go on Xanderman....get her! :)

Xander is just now getting over a couple illnesses. He had a persistent cough for over a month--"allergies" the doc said. He also just had a bout with the stomach bug. I had to take off work to stay home with him....oh dread! NOT! I love staying home with my lil'man.

I told Spencer that if I was guaranteed that the rest of our kiddos would have his temperment, that we could just keep on having some kiddos. I know that's not a given though.

We love our little Xander man. We think he's the best little boy around and as Angelina so plainly puts it, "her best friend". You gotta love children! :)

Weekend with Grammie & Papa

So Angelina went to Grammie's house this weekend! I was supposed to have a photo shoot in Atlanta, which of course, was canceled. I mean, what does this lady think she's doing, going into early labor?!? Doesn't she know I have a schedule to follow??? Hello! Just kidding.

Angelina had a blast. She was able to hang out with Kyla, go to the Pumpkin Patch (our second year), ride a pony, jump in a giant pumpkin, have her face painted, and pet some bunnies.

She also went to the ice cream shop, made a Halloween cake with Grammie and put up some decorations.

Hmmmmm....I wonder if she's getting spoiled. I hear a resounding YES! I guess that is what Grammies, Nanas and Papas are for!

Zero G, Weightless Flight 10.7.08

So I was one of the few teachers in the state of Georgia selected to go (for free) on a weightless flight (aka zero gravity). It was a once in a lifetime experience! My teammates were Alicia (from Greene Co.) and Samantha (Augusta). We had to conduct experiments while we were in flight as well (dropping objects in various gravities, "tossing" each other, hula-hooping, etc.). Most of these experiments, of course, didn't get completed. This was due to a couple factors: 1. it's way too much fun up there and you only have 30 sec. of weightlessness at a time...needless to say, setting up an experiment was hard. 2. even if we wanted to do these experiments, you couldn't move around like you wanted to and it proved exceedingly hard to get to things! and last but certainly not least...how am I supposed to conduct experiments while puking my guts out!?!?!? Yes, that is correct, I got extremely ill. I hung in for 11 flight maneuvers, but had to bail on the last four. I won't get graphic, but try to imagine throwing up when there is no gravity to "pull" your vomit out of your mouth....GOOD TIMES! In all seriousness, I'm sooo incredibly grateful for my experience and know that I am one of a select few that have been able to fly like the astronauts have flown! I even made it in a couple of newspapers and am now a local celebrity around good ol' Oglethorpe County! Yee haw!

Go Georgia Bulldawgs! Goodbye Skull!

So this Saturday, we had a Dawg/Bama party for the Georgia-Alabama game. Spencer's whole family came over along with Jonathan and Angie. We had a blast (even though UGA lost). Angelina loved seeing the family, and especially loved giving Aunt Genevieve her special present!

Background: Angelina and I had gone to the Dollar Tree to get some Halloween decorations, because, as she plainly told me "we don't have decorations like Nana does". At the Dollar Tree we found a couple squeeze ball thingys. You know, the things you squeeze for stress that expand or bubble up. Well, we happened to find one that was a skull and when you squeezed his head blood, worms and maggots squished out of his eyeballs. Yes, you heard me correctly. Well my little morbid daughter got the BIGGEST kick out of this thing...and of course, I got the biggest kick out of that. I mean, seriously, she played with the thing for HOURS. When daddy got home, she of course showed him her new favorite toy and he was NOT pleased. We were forced to give it up. So who better to give it to than Spencer's sister with a penchant for the horrific and scary, Genevieve! Goodbye bloody, wormy, maggoty skull. Enjoy your new home! We'll miss you!

Angelina...drama queen

So this weekend me and the kids went to Nana's house for dinner on Friday night. Angelina was then just going to spend the night after we ate and looked at all the spooky scarecrows (Hoschton just beat the old Guinness Book of Records for most scarecrows in a city--5,441). After we returned to Nana's house, I'm in the back getting Angelina ready for bed. She then looks at me, looks at Nana & Aunt Camille and says "Mommy, can you go home now." Notice, there was no question mark at the end of her sentence. She wasn't asking me to leave...she was telling me! We had a talk about how rude/disrespectful/hurtful that was. I realized soon after, while I was feeding Xander in the living room, that she wanted me to leave so that she could "work" Nana! I can hear from the room, "Nana, can we play a game? Nana, can I get some more to eat? Nana, can I.... can I...."! That little stinker!!! Needless to say, with mommy nearby, Nana did not cave...until the morning! :)

More fashion-friendly kids

Fashionable kids

Here are some from our latest practice photo session.

Weekend with ViVi

So Angelina had her first official "Girl's Night" this weekend with Aunt Genevieve ("ViVi"). Here are some of the funny stories that surfaced!

"Ok, here are my stories from this weekend; although VERY not PC, they are still rather hilarious.

-- Angelina and I were sitting in TCBY, eating our ice cream, when a black couple walked in. Angelina is studying them very closely and then asks me, "Genevieve...you see those two people that just walked in? How do you say "brown" in Spanish?????" Hahaha! Niiiiice.

-- Then, in the parking lot we saw a very old woman walking (she had to be at least 80 years old...) and Angelina yelled, "Wowwww!!!! That lady is SOOOOOOOO old!!!!! Am I going to look like that when I am old?"

-- In our last adventure of the day, to McDonalds' of course, we were sitting at a table near the counter where you order. A lesbian couple walked in, one Lipstick and one Chapstick (ahaha...have you heard that phrase before???? I love it...) So basically, one was really feminine and one was rather masculine (you could tell from obvious features that she was, in fact, a woman). Angelina eyed the masculine one up and down and said to me with a look of disgust, "Genevieve, I know that is a girl but she looks like a BOY! Why is she wearing a boy's hat? Why does she want to look like a boy????" Ahhh...gender roles...so confusing.

Oh, and Brianne there is one more story I forgot to tell you Sunday that you probably won't want to add to your blog, but it was worded so funny I have to tell you. So, Angelina was taking a bath and I can't remember exactly what I said...something about how I was sorry she didn't have any toys for the bath or something...she was cool about it and then all the sudden shouted, "Did you know that Dora scratched my Chi-Chi in the bathtub????" HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! "--Aunt ViVi