Bapmatized

I had never seen a baptism in the river . . . until Sunday. My ten year old niece was baptised along with 7 or 8 other people while those of us that had just attended the beachside service gathered around. It was quiet, sunny and peaceful. I hope it's a day she will always remember. Congratulations Maggie!
(Emma was very curious, asking why everyone was getting dunked, and what did 'bapmatized' mean? She made sure she had a spot up front with a good view.)

Look Where I Was!

I went on a cruise to Bermuda for five nights with these fine people. We left our babies in the excellent care of their grandparents . . . and we had not a care in the world. It was the most relaxing time I can remember in my life. Chucky forgot his long pants, I felt sick the first day, but we fit in plenty of naps and sun and laughter. Chucky won, then lost money at the casino, but it made a new roulette fan out of him. The clocks went forward and we were disoriented (our cell phones went two hours backwards). We saw a bellyflop contest, went snorkeling, saw a striking piece of paradise in the form of a beach with cliffs and huge rocks, pink sand and clear blue water, went on some crazy bus rides, some incorrect ferry rides, shopped, ate LOTS of food, had a disasterous visit to the ship spa, watched Karaoke, participated in the Quest game onboard, danced at the night club, napped by the pool, saw an awesome magic trick and slept really well. woot woot.

Click here to see more Bermuda photos.

Best Beach Ever

I was here. June 23, 2008. Horshoe Bay Beach, Bermuda. More soon.

I'll Love You Forever

Chucky and I depart tomorrow on a cruise to Bermuda. We are feeling torn . . . excited about our trip and sad about leaving our girls. Tonight Emma picked out the book "I'll Love You Forever". if you haven't read it - don't read it for the first time in Target like I did. Because you will surely be crying in Target, like I did! I don't think I've read her this book since I got it two years ago. She cried. I cried but tried not to let her know. I put the book down and we laid in bed for a little quiet time before I left her. The questions started one after the other. Mommy, why did that lady get old and sick and die? Are you going to die before me? Am I going to die? I don't want to die! I don't want you to die, mommy! Why do we die when we get old? Where do we go after we die? I really loved Odie and I want him to come back. I didn't want him to die! When you get old are you going to be sad that you have to die?
You can just imagine that we both needed tissues. I will not be reading that book to her again. After I tried to answer all her questions I told her to think of happy things . . . the pool, Disney World, princesses, Shamu, the beach, going to Nannie's and Ghee and PopPop's for sleepovers. She seemed happier and she was so tired from the day, and from crying, that she just sighed and rolled over, clutching her tissue. I left her room and stood by her door for a minute. I couldn't believe what had just happened. Did I just sugarcoat death? Was I too truthful? Why is my 4 year old worried about dying?
Oh, Emma. I'll love you forever. I'll like you for always. As long as I'm living, my baby you'll be.

My daughters' father

Libby looks a lot like Chucky, I think. Maybe that's why strangers always call her "him" and "he" if she's not dressed in pink. We went out the the Pilot House for their buffet breakfast and even though Libby ate more than I did, they only charged us for two instead of four. Libby yells if she doesn't have any food, and the man at the table next to ours spoke to us near the end of our meal. "You finally gave him some food, huh?" WHAT? SHE has been shoveling it in since her last yell, which was like 10 minutes ago. He made it seem like she had been screeching for a while, when really it was just a couple of (really loud) yells until we threw some french toast at her. Man, she can eat! Chucky was embarassed by her yelling and embarassed by Emma waving and yelling "hi, mommy" from across the buffet. He is easily embarassed. He better get used to it. We are only 4 years into this parenting thing - I've heard it only gets worse. Happy Father's Day!

Jackson Creek

Saturday we packed up the girls (yes, even Chucky came) and went down to the creek for a picnic lunch and some playtime. It was Libby's "first trip to the beach" and it took two large mouthfulls for her to discover that it doesn't taste good. She threw it, crawled in it, filled her toy cups up with it, laughed in it and loved it. She also loved her boat ride and being pulled by Emma. It was hard work packing everyone and everything up, unloading it, feeding them, slathering them with sunscreen, packing it all up and then coming home up and cleaning it all up - but it seemed easy with Chucky's help.

A Princess Forever

Emma is still living in her version of Disney World. She wore this all wednesday morning and took it off only for lunch because she didn't want to get food on it.

Shopper

Libby is getting closer to walking every day. She pushes things around the room, and has started standing for a few seconds on her own. We leave in 6 days for our cruise, so I am hoping she waits to take her first steps when we return. I love this age because every day there is something new for her to discover. She points at everything interesting, and between her few real words babbles endlessly and excitedly, and imitates the funny sounds we make. Thursday she pointed at her grandpa and said "PopPop!"

Rant

Yesterday, I got thrown up on by Libby, and spit in the face by Emma. Today I was in crazy traffic and then I found out Tim Russert died. And holy moly he just gave the graduation speech at my alma mater, Randolph-Macon College, two weeks ago. He seemed like a really neat, honest person - one you could just have dinner with and it wouldn't be weird.
In other current events:
I think the children from the polygymous sect in Texas should be returned to their mothers. They never should have been take away.
Obama vs. McCain - undecided
Earthquake/Cyclone victims - what a shame. 2008 and these people can't get any help. We humans have a long way to go.
There. Rant over.

Webkinz

Webkinz is hard. Stupid chihuahua won't get in the chair.

Quotes from Emma

Emma: This isn't nice soft toilet paper, is it mommy? (while in one of the many bathrooms we visited on our travels)

That's black! I don't like black potties! (she kept looking in all the stalls until she came to the handicapped one and it had a white potty, which of course we had to use)

Well that's just a bummer, innit?

Together again

Emma gives Libby her Disney World gifts. Libby is happy enough with the gift of Emma's presence and squealed and giggled when she saw Emma for the first time in almost a week. Libby learned two new sounds while we were gone. She says "heego!" for here ya go! And she makes a car motor sound when she rides on something. She also has fallen in love with the humming birds that come to the feeder hanging just outside the kitchen window. While shoving her face with food, she points and babbles and grins at the birds. her favorite word is "hello" and she hold phones and remotes to her ear and says "hello" in the sweetest little voice. Her appetite is still large. She ate almost a whole can of green beans for dinner, in addition to macaroni and a graham cracker. She can gobble food up faster than we can cut it and place it in front of her. Mealtime is a fast-paced event, as Chucky and I cut and throw food at Libby, try to get bites for ourselves, and tend to Emma. She is very busy cruising around the furniture and attempts to stand alone, but always falls. She knows what's cute and what's funny, and uses them to her full advantage!

Disney Pictures

I finally got my pictures uploaded. I had about 500 to start with!

It was hot, it was fun, and I won't ever forget it. I've been to Disney World as a child, a college student, and as a newlywed. This was my first trip there as a parent, and it's a different place that I saw through Emma's eyes. She truly thinks it is a magical place. She is excited to return one day and show it all to Libby. I was surprised she even let the characters get near her, and I was floored when she hugged them. I was not surprised that she used this time with mom (and no Libby) to her full advantage and wouldn't accept help from anyone else on the trip. She loved the rides and the parades, and the pool had a beach-like shallow end that she would have played in all day every day if I had let her. She never complained about waiting in line and only complained about being hot a couple of times. She enjoyed the desserts and loved the Shamu show so much that she cried. The princess breakfast was the last day, and gave us something to look forward to . . . and it was worth it. She loved it and the only thing I would have done differently is to bring my video camera to that breakfast!

Click here to see my favorite (66) pictures.

Click here to see all my pictures (355).

We Brought the Heat

We're home from Florida. After the joy of having Libby in my arms again wore off I realized: we're still hot, we're extremely tired. Pictures soon!

Also, we planted a garden today. I usually kill most plants, wish us luck . . .