Are You As Clean As You Think?

This morning was going so well. It was early, before 8, and I had gotten the first shower of the day, which never happens, and had Emmy ready for school. Charles-Allen and Neal were getting ready. Everything was going so smoothly which is not normally the case. We (or I should say I) always give the kids baths in the morning. And this is a Big job. Getting myself and three kids bathed, dressed, teeth and hair brushed, is an effort. So this morning was going so well, especially since I had conned Neal into giving Charles-Allen a shower. So when I hear Neal exclaim, "what do you mean it has pee in it?" I knew everything was about to go off track. Apparently, when he was getting ready to wash Charles-Allen's hair Charles-Allen thought to let his daddy know that he didn't want our shampoo because it has pee in it and that's nasty, he wanted the kids shampoo to wash his hair with. After a few more questions and moments of unbelief on Neal's part, he was able to find out that yesterday while Charles-Allen was taking a shower by himself he decided it would be fun to pee in the shampoo bottle. The same shampoo bottle that we had both already washed our hair with. I mean who, but a boy, would ever think to pee in a shampoo bottle? I believe there has never been in the history of human life that a female looked at something and thought, "I bet I can pee in that." And then went and actually did it. Boys, what are they thinking?
So if any of you have any pee pee stories that you can share with me I would really appreciate it. That way if I see anything that looks suspect I'll be sure to check it out before proceeding any further.

What's In A Name?

I have certain strict guidelines that I believe must be followed when selecting a name. The first is that either the first or middle name has to be a family name. Someone that Neal or I have known and love. That has been pretty easy so far. Emmy's middle name belongs to both my mom and me. Charles-Allen has both my dad's and Neal's dad's name and Ally has my grandmother's middle name. The second guideline is that we must actually like the name they go by. I mean we can't use the name Cleo even though it belongs to Neal's mom and we both love her. Our kid would never forgive us and I can't blame her. And finally, we both have to agree. That is the tricky part, and honestly I did cheat on this when we had Ally. Neal loves the name Ally. He has had it pick out for many years and wanted to use it if Charles-Allen was a girl. I like the name a lot, but there are lots of names I like a lot. That's why I have to have these guidelines. I don't know how people just narrow down two names that they like. When we found out Ally was a girl Neal was set on the name. Me not so much. I wanted her given name to be different than what we called her, like Emmy's. Emmy's given name is Emily, and since I'm a sucker for nick names I wanted Ally to have a given name and a nick name as well. However, I didn't think Neal would agree and I didn't want to discuss it for several months and get everyone's imput so I just settled on a name and when the nurse said they would be back with the birth certificate I informed Neal of what I baby girl would be named. Funny thing is he totally loved the name Alexa and I worried for nothing. But now we can't agree. There are too many options that we like and we can't settle on one thing. It's so frustrating because when we talk about the baby we can't call her by her name. It's just the baby. I don't like it. So you must help me settle on a name. We're going to use the name Ellas Parker. I know they both are traditionally boy names and in a way that's why I like them. They are also both family names. Parker is my mom's maiden name (hey I from the south, what can I say) and Ella is part of Neal's grandmother's name. The problem is we can't agree on what to call her. I really want to call her Parker. But since I've given our other girls nick names I feel like I have to give this one a nick name too. Neal likes Elly, but that reminds me of Ellie Mae and I think it would be difficult to say Emmy, Ally, and Elly. But I think they go together quite nicely and I like the cohesiveness of the way they sound together. And then there is Ella, which fits perfectly with our theme of a given name shortened into a nick name. So do you see how big my problem is and do you think you can help? If you're not busy during this holiday season maybe you could help us pick out the name of our fourth and final child. Chances are I'll do what I want regardless like I did with Ally, but I hoping someone will give me some sort of inspiration. And I am desperate. I'm almost six months pregnant and we haven't settled on a name. That is so not like me, I mean I've had Emily Carole picked out since I was 8, I even named my first Cabbage Patch kid Emily Carole. I must have a name.

It's A......

Okay, so Neal and I went to the doctor yesterday so excited to find out what our 4th child will be. After nearly 5 months of Charles-Allen telling everyone, "My mommy's pregnant for a boy" we thought we would be able to share his excitement because he just knows his baby is a boy. As soon as the tech puts the picture up we both can tell exactly what it is and it's not a boy. It's a girl!!!! I'm so excited. I've always wanted a bunch of girls. I think because there were so few in my big family growing up. But I'm sad for Charles-Allen, when we told him I thought he was going to break out crying. It was pitiful. I know he will get use to the idea and eventually get excited, but for now he's a little bitter. Last night while we were eating dinner he said, "that's Emmy's baby, not my baby." Maybe it'll take a little longer for him to get use to the idea than I thought.

I've Been Tagged by...My wonderful Sister-In-Law Kristen

8 Favorite TV Shows:
1.The Closer
2.Women's Murder Myster Club
3. Medium
4.CSI
5.The Unit
6.The Amazing Race
7.Bones
8.Criminal Minds

8 Things I Did Yesterday:
1. Tried to Take the Kids Ice Skating
2.Scored Some Great Halloween Decor @ Cracker Barrell for 70% off
3.Got Birthday Donughts for Charles-Allen
4.Went to A Christmas Open House
5.Cleaned my House
6.Wrapped Christmas Presents
7.Got out Christmas Decorations
8.Ate lunch with Neal and the Kids at the Park (again)

8 Things I look forward To:
1.Early Morning when the Kids Are Safely Asleep
2.Holidays
3.A Clean House
4.Hearing"Mommy I luzs you"
5.Shopping
6.Going to Deep Bottom
7.Emmy Tracking Out
8.The Pregnancy Sickness to Be Over

8 Favorite Restaurants:
1.Cracker Barrell
2.Applebee's
3.The Country Squire
4.Logan's
5.Smithfield's
6.The Melting Pot
7.La Rancharitas
8.El Rodeo

8 Things on My Wishlist:
1.New Counter Tops (please Neal, please)
2.A Clean House
3.Easy Pregnancy
4.Healthy Baby
5.My Children to Grow up and Know How Important the Church is
6.Loose Weight
7.Never to Have Dental Problems
8.Always Have Neal

8 People to Tag
I think everyone I would tag has already been tagged. But if not anyone who would like to.

Ally Thinks She's a Boy

Ally's belly button sticks out way far. She loves to pull on it and play with it, which really gives me the creeps as I can't stand for my belly button to be touched. However, she has now found a new thing to do with it. She has been following Charles-Allen to the bathroom, and apparently observing him while he pees, and now she's decided she can be like him. She hikes her shirt up, grabs her bellybutton and holds it over the potty just like her brother. Charles-Allen gets a real kick out of this so she likes to do it when he's in there because she likes to make him laugh, but the other day I was putting on my make up and she walks to the potty, puts up the seat, pulls up her shirt and grabs her belly button. When she's done she puts the seat back down and flushes. She totally thinks she's a boy!

NC Stake Fair

We got to go to the NC Stake Fair (that's what Charles-Allen calls it) again this year and it was a blast. We love the state fair and try never to miss it. So here are some pics of the good time we had.

This is what they won. They're so proud of these tiny toys.

This is the only thing I'll ride.

Our kids love to see the animals and hold the chicks and ducks, but it took forever for us to get a pic. with Charles-Allen holding one. However, since we've gotten home he keeps asking if he can go back tomorrow and hold the chicks.

We love the food, but I think the corn was our favorite this year.

It's Been A While....

Neal and I went to our 15 year high school reunion last weekend. It's been a while since we've seen so many of our old friends. It was neat, but weird at the same time. Neal and I dated throughout high school and we have a lot of the same friends. It was neat to see how some people haven't changed much, and weird to see that some have changed a lot. I also got to see a dear friend that I taught with for 5 years. I miss her sooo much and it was good to catch up and see how her oldest daughter has grown. Time sure does fly by.

Neal and my best friend since 1st grade Joelle.

Me, Debra and Melanie-I taught with Debra and Melanie before moving up to Wake County and I went to high school with Melanie.

We have this exact pose from our Junior and Senior proms.

Boo

Sometimes I like to pretend I can decorate and today I tried to make these cute pumpkins that I saw on someone's blog. She said she bought her's, but thought they would be pretty easy to make and I loved them so much I thought I would give it a try. I went to Michael's and purchased the 3 white pumpkins for $9 (which i thought was a steal) and went home to attempt them. The first and only problem I encountered was free handing the letters. Not something I'm really good at. But after trying it on paper and then just going for it, with a Sharpie marker not doubt, I was done in no time (meaning about 2 hours). I had to paint over the letters because the Sharpie didn't cover as well as I liked and Emmy painted the tops of the pumpkins green. We then found some old candle sticks that I had packed up and this hideous mirror that I use to love and now not so much. And of course, ribbon from my vast collection. It seems I can't ever get enough of ribbon. But I am surprised at how good I think it turned out. And I just love that I can use it again next year!

Ode To Summer

I can't believe another summer has come and gone. It seems like it goes by faster and faster every year, so to honor it I thought I would recap some of the highlights of another really great summer. First Emmy and Charles-Allen both started sleeping in their beds all night long. Wheeew! Thought it would never happen. So to bribe them, I mean celebrate, we got them both bikes and they learned to ride them.


Look at my little man ride. He's only 3 and so proud of himself!

Emmy's too busy posing to ride. She has her priorities straight. Such a girl!Here's Al Al, she would rather eat the wheel. That's much more fun to a 1 year old.Other than riding bikes all summer we went to Myrtle Beach 4 different times. It was so much fun every time we went, but I must admit we love being able to have Cory and Kristen and their kids with us. So that was probably our favorite trip to Myrtle Beach. And who can forget a week in the oppressive heat at Camp Singletary with Neal's wonderful family. We only went home to Topsail Beach once this year. I wish we had gone more, but we had a blast with Heidi and Madi and Kristen and the kids, and we literally stayed all day.


Myrtle Beach at Broadway at the Beach.
We also went to Williamsburg, Virginia and to Water Country USA. This was the only trip that Ally didn't go on and we really missed her.Here the kids are in the pool in Virginia and this is the first time they ever used "sloppers". You know the webbed feet that you put on to swim faster, sloppers. Everyone knows what sloppers are.Emmy had the biggest summer. She lost a tooth. Started 2nd grade and she hadn't even turned 7 yet. This was the first year I didn't cry on her first day. Go Me! She also had her hair cut shorter than it's ever been since she was about 6 months old and went to the Jonas Brothers Concert with her best friend Elise.

Okay, I know I've posted this pic. before, but seriously it cracks me up! I don't think I will ever get tired of it. I got one word for ya, "boys". What in the world are they thinking?

Ally also had a big summer. She had her first birthday and learned to walk and say her first word which of course was "da da". She is the first one of our kids not to say ma ma first. How sad for me.

Yeah Ally! What a big girl.

All together now, "Boys! What are they thinking?"

So all in all we had a fabulous summer. We celebrated birthdays of many family and friends, got to spend time together at the beach, went to a wedding and basically enjoyed be parents of 3 terrific kids. We are so blessed. Now for my final accomplishment and the reason I haven't posted in over a month. We managed to also find time to get pregnant with our fourth child. We are so excited. I have always wanted to have 4 kids. However, I would have liked to have had a little more space between #s 3 and 4, but I'll take it. We are expecting the baby on or hopefully before April 19. Charles-Allen is telling everyone, "My mommy is pregnant for a boy" so we're going to let him live the dream as long as he can. I'm 13 weeks so it shouldn't be long before we can find out if he's right or not. Keep your fingers crossed.

Just to show you how different Neal and I feel about summer I found some quotes that totally sum us.

Neal: On vacations: We hit the sunny beaches where we occupy ourselves keeping the sun off our skin, the saltwater off our bodies, and the sand out of our belongings.*Erma Bombode*

Amanda: A life without love is like a year without summer.*Swedish Proverb*

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time.*John Lubbock

Go Heels Go!

We took Charles-Allen to his very first Carolina football game on Saturday. He was soooo excited. We were playing McNeese State and it was a 6 pm game time. I thought this would be perfect, especially compared to Emmy's first Carolina game. Her first time was horrible. She was three and it was so hot. We played Miami (or at least some team that wore orange) and lost after 3 overtimes, not an ideal game for a 3 year old little girl. I thought this time it couldn't be as hot or as long. Well I was right about the first one, but only because during the second quarter the game was delayed for 2 hours due to a major thunderstorm. It was after midnight before we got home. It was so worth it, the kids had a blast and Neal and his brothers had the joy of the first win of a new season. Wheeew! That was close. Nothing is worse than having to ride back with Neal and Cory after Carolina has lost. Go Heels Go!

We're #1, we'll at least #1 Tarheel Fans!

Even Uncle Eric has a smile. Thanks goodness we won. These men can be difficult when their team doesn't win.

Cheap Seats, actually not, but they're not ours. They belong to some fans that left after the storm.

Ian made it almost til the end, but he couldn't hold out any longer.


Charles-Allen didn't fall asleep until we were well on the way home. Isn't that pitiful? He fell asleep on his football. He's so cute, especially when he's sleeping.;)

Myrtle Beach III

We took our third and final trip of the summer to Myrtle Beach last week. It was so relaxing. We pretty much stayed at the resort and swam during the day and watched the Olympic games at night. Charles Allen was able to play around in the pool with just his swimmies on for the first time and Emmy won first place in a limbo contest. I tied for first place, but lost the tie breaker to a lady from Holly Springs. Neal and Emmy entered in a putting contest and a WII bowling contest. They didn't win, but they had fun trying. We finished up the weekly activities with tie dying t-shirts and renting bicycles for the day. Unfortunately, Hurricane Faye arrived on Friday. We had been planning all week to go to the water park on our last day, but between the rain and Emmy's allergic reaction to the sunscreen that swelled her face up to the point of not being able to open her eyes we had to come home early Friday morning. All in all it was a great trip with many fun memories. We can't wait til next year.

Ally kept herself entertained by trying to balance on Charles Allen's boogie board.

Emmy also entered into a hula competition.

This is a new game that Emmy and Neal came up with. It looked like a lot of fun. At least for Emmy.

Cool Shirts! Lazy DayzsAlly even went around the pool with just swimmies on. She's such a big girl.

High Ratings

We're in Myrtle Beach right now and last night we we're planning on what to do on Friday, which is our last day. We had originally planned on going to Myrtle Waves, which is the water park down here and it was the one big thing we had planned to do all week so the kids have been really looking forward to it. Neal was telling Emmy that because of Hurricane Faye we wouldn't be able to go because it's predicted to be bad weather. So she immediately said, "Well if I can't go to the water park then I have to see grandma." OK then. That was easy. So Grandma if you're reading this know that you're missed and greatly loved, and more importantly you rate right up there with the water park! To a seven year old that's a big deal.

Living The Dream

Last night Neal and the kids and I drove down to Harrells to visit with my dad's brothers and their families. We went to my cousin Beverly's house and she has a big nice pool. My aunts and cousins were all commenting on how comfortable my kids seemed in the pool and they were asking if we had a pool. Of course we don't and they seemed surprised, but I told them we often went to Myrtle Beach during the summer. So late that night as we're just starting our drive back home Neal begins to ask me why I said we didn't have a pool. Emmy chimes in that we don't and he acts stunned that we would say we didn't have a pool. He's hurt. How could we deny our lovely pool that we've played in for two summers now. Well, Emmy and I had forgotten our lovely pool and we apologized and rolled our eyes. Yes, we do remember her now. She is lovely and we're grateful to have her. We probably won't miss her while we're at Myrtle Beach this week, but we'll be glad to see her when we get back home!













My favorite part is the hot pink duct tape. I just couldn't bare sending her to the landfield so I taped her up and she's good as new!

Happy Birthday Emmy!

This is my birthday girl. My beautiful babies. Birthday Pizza! The best.

Emmy turned seven on July 29th. I can't believe it. It makes me so sad when I think of how quickly it has gone by. Time really does fly when you're having fun, and Emmy has been so much fun since about 3 months. Don't even get me started on the first three months with a new baby, especially the first. Of course, it wasn't her fault. I just had completely no idea what in the world I was doing. Poor thing, it's a miracle she made, not to mention that she seems to be doing well in spite of what she had to endure. Anyway, it seemed like we celebrated all week long for her birthday. We get pretty excited around here when one of our babies has a birthday. On Tuesday, her actual birthday, we opened two presents before she went to school. Then during school she had a party with her classmates. We shared two birthday cookies and Capri Suns with her class. Mrs. Haden was really good to let us come in and disrupt her class. And it was especially exciting for Emmy since it was the first time she was at school on her actual birthday. When she got home from school she opened another present because apparently a seven year old will die if they have to wait too long to open presents on their birthday. That seems to be the rule. I know I wanted to die if I had to listen to more begging. Thankfully we all survived and we were able to go to Emmy's favorite restaurant, Moe's, and have a birthday dinner. After that we came home to finish opening her presents. The very next day we took Emmy and her BFF, Elise, to the Jonas Brothers concert. And finally, on Friday we had a small party with her cousins during our monthly date night. It was a fun week and we're so lucky to be sharing our lives with such a great kid. Happy Birthday, Emmy!

This looks like trouble to me. Run girls! Run!

The girls kept trying to outrun the boys in the gator. It didn't work so well.

Boys and girls play so different. While the boys were busy trying to bomb everyone with water ballons, the girls were trying to protect their "babies". It was so sad when they busted.

Jonas Brothers Concert

Neal got Emmy tickets to the Jonas Brothers Concert for her birthday. I told him it was crazy to take a seven year old to a concert, but she was telling him that she overheard some girls at school talking about what they were going to wear to the concert and he really wanted to surprise her. Obviously he wanted to surprise me too, because he bought five tickets and wanted me to take her and three friends....so not going to happen. We decided on one friend and Charles-Allen, Neal, and me. Of course she chose Elise, those girls would live together if we let them. It was a hot, fun night once the Jonas Brothers came out. Avril Lavin played first and the girls really didn't know who she was. There was a lot of screaming and I decided that I'm sooo not ready to be the parent of a tween. Thank goodness that's a few years off.

Here the girls are after having picked out their outfits for the night.

The kids are hugging Grandma, our trusty babysitter, goodbye. We know Ally is in good hands.

We had no idea how packed it would be. I've been to concerts before, and it was never anything like this.

The girls helped themselves to someone's chair. The people must
not have needed it because they never came back.

Only the young would wear heels to a concert.

We basically bought a ticket for Charles-Allen to do this all night. I love this kid. I think he's trying to learn how to break dance.

The Jonas Brothers finally came out. Do you think the girls are excited? They're going to hate me for this photo when they get older.

It was hard for the kids to see so Neal was constantly putting someone on his shoulders. What a good man.

By the end of the night everyone was exhausted. But we couldn't leave until they heard Burning Up and I think it was the very last song. Just wanted to give a shout out to Brookie, she's our cousin and we saw her there. The girls were almost as excited to see her as they were the Jonas Brothers.