Christmas on SSI 2011

big girl in the car

i think she looks like me in this pic?  little bit???

libby & lily playing at the beach club...rough life.

end of december on ssi, cannot beat the beautiful weather!!

my girls sliding at the beach club in december, i love sunny days!

abi, jack and mags

one of my vbffs and her baby boy, soooo sweet.

turner & mags - cousins!

the girls and i with their great grandparents lyle and betty certain.  such a fun night!

the girls LOVED the stairs!  they have so much fun at nonna and granddads house!

gonna helping the girls with opening their incredibly thoughtful FUN gifts!

the girls getting spoiled by their sweet grandfather!!

opening presents....

another of my vbffs and i at dinner with the girls

shan with my babies, love this!  

jenn, me and cristi at the playground at the pier.  so fun.

great grandmother and libby playing with sadie

grand'om and libby & mae mae :)

can you tell they love her?? :)

playing the piano at grand'oms house!  they love it at her house....so much fun!

opening a gift at mimi's house!

jackson!  Love my nephew!

aunt lissa and mags!

heading down south

stopped in metter for lunch with another vbff :)

tired angel bear

January, so far...

We are already at January 12, 2012 and so far, so good!  The girls are both doing well, we are loving the fact that we can go outside and play and it's not as cold as it was last year...this time last year we experienced Snowpocolypse so we are loving the mild temps so far even though I saw it may be getting cooler soon for a few days.

Libby still loves her school - she's there on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9-12 and she loves her teachers and her classmates.  One of the little boys, Caleb, is her sweetheart (as the teachers told me Monday).  Apparently, they often sit together at snack and hold hands on the playground.  Adorbz.  Matt and I are friends with his parents so we are pleased with her choice, ha!!  She is already planning her FOURTH birthday party.  She wants to have a pool party at the emory pool and have yogurt and a Tangled theme.  Rapunzel is her new favorite princess these days, she moves on quickly!!  She's a very friendly and social butterfly, often talking to everyone and telling them all about what we're doing and her upcoming birthday plans, hilarious.  She only wants to wear dresses, and there are about 3 that she picks out daily so I have to wash them over and over to make sure one of them is clean for her. :)  Honestly she is just everything a little girl should be, and I am so proud of her - her sweet spirit is obvious and her sensitivity is something I am very inspired by.

Margaret is so awesome and hilarious!! She's as sweet as they come and loves to kiss and hug - but boy oh boy she has a temper!  She is much more assertive and WILD than Libby was at this age.  She is repeating all the words we say to her, and really trying to get that vocabulary down.  She loves to read and will often bring books to me and back up to sit in my lap so we can read together.  I love this age, they are just little sponges!  Libby always calls her MaeMae, and Matt and I call her that sometimes - we have definitely decided that once she has an opinion she'll just tell us what name she likes between Maggie, Margaret or Mae!  I love all three so it doesn't matter to me. :)  Love this precious girl so much!!

Here are just a few pics that I have taken the past few weeks.

heading to park for a picnic

panera for breakfast

tv in mom and dads bed

ponytail 

bowling!

magician for a friends birthday party 

dressing as a magi for church to give gifts to the baby Jesus

church

naptime for a princess but she's still holding her hersheys chocolate bar

working hard at the library

game time 

uncle joe

Welcome, 2012!

Here we are entering another year - don't know about y'all but I truly can't believe it.  2011 was a wonderful year - we enjoyed several family trips, spent a lot of time at home being together, and just loving watching our two girls grow and change before our eyes!  They are just the sweetest things and Matt and I are simply in love with them both.

Tonight is an important (weird sort of) night for me - I suppose January 2 will always be significant in my mind as it was this night SIXTEEN years ago that I fell into a coma with bacterial meningitis.  Because I was so incredibly sick and not "supposed" to live, I will forever think of it as my rebirth, if that makes sense.  It is also a memory that Matt has, as he was with me at a party the night before and he was one of the many people that had to take a pill to make sure he wouldn't get meningitis as well, only Matt was allergic to it!  SOOO as I lay in a coma in the CCU my future husband lay upstairs in the hospital on a different floor.  Who knew!  I say all of this because on January 2, I like to really reflect on my life and thank God yet again for the gift of life.  It is oh so fragile and every day is a gift.

I am SO thankful for my husband, for my two children and so blessed to be able to stay at home with them.  This is something I will never take for granted - being at home with them is better than I could have ever imagined.  Even when there are days that I stay in my pjs until 4 PM, and I realize I didn't shower or brush my teeth all day, I am so happy being with them.  Matt is so supportive and realized my heart was at home, and I owe this to him to allow me these years with my baby girls!  So so so so so so so grateful.

I do want to learn to be a better cook though.  That is one thing I need to work on as a stay at home Mom!!!  New Years Resolution for sure. :)

Here's to the new year, y'all!