I PALE in comparison!

John McCain picked his running mate for the campaign, Sarah Palin. All politics aside, I sat in disbelief as this woman--a mother of 5!--made her acceptance speech. The thing that gets me is not just that she has 5 kids, but that the youngest is only 4 months old! I will make no bones about the fact that the transition from 1 to 2 kids rocked me; it was much harder than I had anticipated! I honestly stayed hibernated in our house for a good majority of the first 8 months just getting used to all of that multi-tasking! I still have a hard time putting together a cohesive conversation when I run into people at the grocery store, and this woman is taking on the campaign to be Vice President...OF THE COUNTRY!! I can't help but wonder if I am just a wimp for being exhausted by the end of the day, or if she is just an unreal superhuman. It definitely makes me think that getting myself to MOPS this fall should be more of an attainable goal!

Oh Olympics, where are you?

We got so spoiled. Every evening we would turn the t.v. on in anticipation of watching some good, quality programming. No other time but the Olympic games would we be interested in Men's Sychronized Diving, but even that kept our attention! We stayed up until all hours of the night watching swimming, beach volleyball, and gymnastics; Chad was even able to watch the basketball team win gold sometime after 4am! So, back to regularly scheduled programming. For the past two nights we've flipped through the channels and channels of reality shows, game shows, reruns, and convention coverage...blah, blah, and blah. Where is Michael Phelps when we need him?!

The Evolution of a Student

8:15 am: Cool, calm, and ready to go


8:45 am: Good-bye at Car-line


1 pm: "I LOOOVE School!"


1:05 pm: SOUND ASLEEP!!

Special Time

It's hard to believe, but Aly will be at her little pre-school in just 12 hours from now! She is attending school at our church two mornings a week starting tomorrow. We went to the orientation tonight where she played in her classroom while the parents met in the chapel. She cried when I left, but I was thrilled that she had stopped by the time I came back! To make the evening special, Chad's parents took Caroline so that I could spend a little 'special time' with Aly. We went to the shoe store and picked out new white Keds (and fancy lace socks!), ate dinner at her favorite: Chick-Fil-A, and then headed over to school.

Oddly enough, this is (I think!) the first time since Caroline was born that I had time out and alone with Aly. It was wonderful, and something that I need to make a much better effort at. Chad has done a tremendous job of getting time alone with her. They love to go out to the front porch swing and talk, which Aly always refers to as, "Special Time". Also, for the past few months, he's been taking her on 'special dates' several nights a month: they talk about it and build it up all day, eat dinner as usual at home, take a bath as usual, and then go for a special treat...in her pajamas!! She loves it, as will Caroline once she's able to do it too.

I'm looking forward to some of this much-needed 'Special Time' alone with Caroline while Aly is in school, and am really wanting to make an effort to not always use those precious hours with her for running errands (because I KNOW that will be a temptation as running around town with one is so much easier!!) I guess that tonight was the first time that I've realized just how important "Special Time" is...for all of us!

Aly in her new room at school

Dawg Days of Summer

I feel like summer is officially coming to a close. Our trips are over, basketball pre-season is starting next Tuesday, Aly starts pre-school next Wednesday, and the pool closes in just 2 weeks. I've always thought that saying, "good-bye" to summer is so much easier since it's followed by fall, which is by far my favorite season. I'm looking forward to Aly being old enough this fall to understand and enjoy pumpkins, cool weather, holidays, and football!! (She's got "Go Dawgs, woof woof" down really well already, although she doesn't quite know why she's saying it!!) And for my Texas friends, yes I still love the Aggies, but it's hard to be a true fan in this part of the country and with Chad as my husband--(not to mention...when was the last time that A&M was ranked #1?!?) Below are a few pictures from our past week. The last one is of the new basketball shirts--Chad ordered one for both girls with their names on the back. Aly refuses to wear hers...not girlie enough. The video is of Sweet Caroline standing up!

Happy Birthday, Cawo-yine!!

Our baby girl is one today!! We've loved every minute of our past year with her, and look forward to seeing her sweet smile every single morning. It's unbelievable how fast time with these girls goes; I wish that I could be completely happy with the fact that they are getting older, but I find myself feeling bittersweet tonight as another 1st birthday has come and gone. I realize that this is just a part of who I am, though--I have the habit of mourning passages. I HATED soccer, but cried at our last game; I cried at the last day of school every year; I never thought life could get better than elementary school, but then came middle school (and high school, college, and LIFE!) I guess that I can take comfort in the fact that each stage has gotten better and better, and assume that our life throughout the girls' childhood will be the same. The Lord has truly blessed us with these little Angels.

Birth Announcement Picture

1st Cake!

Baby Doll from the Pardues (her Godparents)


Our Little "Dwarf"


Tough Day of Partying for Aly

Back to Life

After a wonderful 10 days with my parents, we are back and returning to the swing of things. Chad joined us in New York on Tuesday, then we all came home yesterday (Chad's plane was actually delayed, so the girls and I beat him to Atlanta by 4 hours!!) With my new camera, I definitely went picture-happy, so I apologize that there are so many! Here are a couple random ones of the girls:





We took a trip to the Syracuse zoo (the "kazoo", as Aly calls it). This was the first time we've been to a zoo, and we had a blast! (the temperature was about 75 degrees--wow!) Aly's favorite were the elephants, and Caroline really liked the penguins. (The REAL ones, that is!)

Nana and Papa with the girls at the zoo

Caroline turns 1 this upcoming Thursday, so we had a birthday party with my parents so that they could help celebrate. Aly helped Nana make the cake:


I just had to add this last picture...Caroline moves around ALL of the time, and loves to get into everything. One night, Chad went up to check on her, and this is how he found her. The bottom pad of the pack-and-play is folded up, and she is laying between the support bars...up against her head and arm!
This last video is of Aly just getting so tickled by Nana. My mom didn't know what it was that Aly thought was so funny, but anytime she did it over the entire vacation, Aly went hystarical!



Thanks for such a fun time, and we love you Nana and Papa!!