Our Special Day

Yesterday, I completed a major accomplishment.  I spent two hours in a conference room with my faculty committee at UNC Charlotte to defend my thesis proposal and my oral comprehensive exam.  I was so, so nervous!  Everything went great!  The first hour I defended my thesis proposal and then the second hour I answered the oral comps questions.  They asked me to leave the room for 5 minutes while they discussed whether I passed or not.  There were 6 questions, and I could receive a high pass, pass, low pass, or fail.  I received 3 high passes, and 3 passes!  I was thrilled!  When I walked back into the room, they congratulated me, and went on and on about how well I had answered the questions! 

They said they were impressed with my passion for my job and for this profession, and asked me to speak on a panel in April.  I will be speaking in front of other professionals, students and community members.  I am nervous, but so honored to be asked to do this!


So....today, was a day of celebration!  This morning Creig and Meredith surprised me with a breakfast of bacon, eggs and grits.  Then we all drove to town so that I could use my manicure gift certificate. 

Creig took Meredith down to Target so she could enjoy their special event about Dr. Seuss.  She got lots of free treats, and enjoyed hearing a Dr. Seuss book.  When they were done they came back to the nail salon, and the lady doing my manicure asked Meredith if she would like to have her fingernails and toe nails painted.  Well, I did paint them last night, but this was far better and she just had to do it!  She felt like a big girl picking out her own color...purple!

She thought she was a grown up sitting in that chair.  She even had a flower painted on her thumbs and big toes!  Creig thinks we may have created a monster...he says she will probably expect to have her nails done at the nail salon all the time now!

When we left the nail salon, we headed to Stallings Park.  We had lunch at the picnic tables and played for a while.  Meredith loved it, and it was a beautiful day! 

Meredith actually talked me into going down the slide with her, and we had a great time on the swings!

We've decided this is something we definitely want to do at least one weekend every month, if not more!  It was so nice to enjoy the sunshine and get some fresh air. 

Here is our future rock climber!

We played and played and played!  Meredith had a blast and we so enjoyed spending time with her.  Of course, this was the final result of all that hard playing...

When we left the park we had to go to the grocery store to pick up a few things for dinner.  We decided to just stop at the Harris Teeter on our way home, and Meredith was thrilled.  Anytime she is with me when I do my grocery shopping she begs to go to Harris Teeter.  Anyone who has small children probably knows why....the FREE cookie!  We had never stopped at this particular Harris Teeter before, so we were surprised to find a Harry the Dragon riding toy when we walked in.  Meredith told us she wanted to ride, so I gave her the 50 cents to put in, and off she went!

I love making these special memories with my family! This morning when we were driving to the park, I told Meredith "I love being your Mommy!"   She looked at me, smiled and said, "I love being your daughter!"  I am so thankful to have Creig and Meredith, and am so blessed!  What a great way to celebrate!

Our Girly Girl

There is no doubt about it...Meredith is definitely a girly, girl!  She loves to have her hair done, pretend to put on makeup, wear jewelry and have her nails painted.  Her issues with eczema have been so rough on her skin this winter, and her hands were the absolute worst ever.  I promised her that when we got her hands all cleared up I would paint her fingernails.  Tonight was the night!  She was so excited to have her nails painted, and I was even more excited to see her eczema free hands with that nail polish on. 

When I told her I could paint her nails tonight the screams of excitement were probably heard by our neighbors.  She chose pink for her fingernails and a sparkling blue for her toe nails.  She is so proud of her beautiful polish!

I love this sweet, precious girl!  I am so thankful for her, and so blessed to be her Mommy!

Special Visitor

We have a very special house guest staying with us for a couple of days...it's Macey!  My Mom and Dad left yesterday morning to go to Alabama for my Grandfather's funeral, and of course they had to have a place for their precious dog to stay. 

They usually ask us if we mind watching her when they are going out of town for a few days, and we certainly don't mind.  In fact, we enjoy it!  Meredith was so excited to find out that Macey was coming over to stay with us. 

As soon as Creig walked in the door, Macey found her way to her favorite spot...my lap!

Meredith likes playing with her tail, so she climbed up too and started rubbing her tail and talking to her.  Macey soon decided she wanted to play, and jumped down.  From then on, this is pretty much how things went...

Macey was checking out the whole house, and Meredith was right behind her.  This morning when we left for work and daycare, Meredith walked over to her crate and said, "Bye Macey...I hope you have a good day!"  When we got in the car, Meredith told me she was afraid Macey was going to miss us and cry.  She can't wait to get back home tonight and play with our special visitor!

Only Pretending

I decided at about 12:15 today to call and check on Meredith at daycare.  Her teacher, Ms. Irene answered the phone and I asked her how she was doing.  Ms. Irene told me she was having a great day, and said that she was on her mat as we spoke, asleep.  I was a little surprised, because Meredith doesn't take many naps anymore.  I thought she must be pretty tired, and was glad she was taking a nap.

Well, I learned different this evening on our way home from dance class.  Meredith was telling me about her day, and the good choices she made to earn her smiley.  I told her that I had called to check on her today at naptime.  She was a little surprised and said, "You did!"  After telling her that Ms. Irene told me she was having a great day and was asleep on her mat.  She smiled and said, "No Mommy!  I was only pretending to be asleep." 

Boy does she have Ms. Irene fooled!  She is too smart, but not yet smart enough to realize that telling Mommy she is pretending to sleep at naptime is probably not a good idea.  I would love for her to always be so innocent!  As long as she is staying on her mat, and not bothering anyone else trying to sleep...Mommy doesn't mind! 

Purex, Purex and More Purex

I was so proud of my shopping at CVS today.  We use Purex laundry detergent at our house because you can get Purex Free & Clear or Pure which is hypoallergenic and safe for sensitive skin.

CVS had their Purex 3in1 sheets and Purex liquid detergent on sale this week, and there were coupons in the newspaper.  I went in today and bought 3 of the Purex 3in1 sheets and 3 of the Purex liquid detergent.  Check out my deal:

Total Cost:  $48.00
Total Paid:  $7.33

I was so excited, and of course Creig was pleased!  Here's a picture of my deal!

Daddy has to visit jail!

This morning we loaded up in the car and got ready to leave our driveway for church.  As I began to back out of the driveway, I noticed something on the window of our pantry and thought it was a crack in the window.  I pointed it out to Creig, he looked at it, and said, "I think it's actually bird poop."  I was relieved and headed down the driveway.

Meredith seriously said, "Um, Daddy...you cannot say bird poop.  Anyone who says bird poop has to go to jail.  It is not nice." 

After telling her that it's okay to say bird poop, and that's actually the nice way to say it we all laughed quite a bit.  Meredith said relieved, "Daddy, I thougth you were going to have to go to jail.  I'm glad you get to stay with us!"

Who knows where she comes up with this stuff! 

Meredith's many questions...

We had quite an interesting conversation on our way home tonight.  Meredith started asking us questions about our trip, and to be honest I thought it would go on and on.  This is how the conversation went, or maybe I should say, this is what she wanted to know.

Meredith:  "How'd ya'll get there?"
Creig:  "We drove the car."
Meredith:  "How'd ya'll get everything in this car?"
Creig:  "We packed it up carefully."
Meredith:  How'd ya'll get everything out of the car?"
Me:  "We carefully unloaded everything."
Meredith:  "How'd ya'll get in the hotel?"
Creig:  "We walked in the door."
Meredith:  "How'd ya'll get all your stuff in the hotel?"
Creig:  "We used a luggage cart."
Meredith:  "How'd ya'll get in your room?"
Me:  "We used a room key."
Meredith:  "How'd ya'll get home?"
Me:  "We drove the car back home."
Meredith:  How'd ya'll get everything back in the car?"
Creig:  "We packed it all back up very carefully."
Meredith:  "How'd ya'll go to get home?"
Me:  "We drove through the mountains."

Creig and I just chuckled at each question.  She was very serious, and really wanted to know about our trip.  Each time I thought we had satisfied her curiousity, she started again with another question.  What a smart girl!

What a precious girl!  We sure did miss her, and we sure do love her lots!



Family Birthday Party & Special Hairstyles

My cousin Katie will be 15 years old on Monday!  It seems like just yesterday she was born, and I still remember how excited I was.  She has now completed her driver's education course and will be going to get her permit on Tuesday.  Time flies!  Tonight we celebrated her birthday with family.  We had lots of finger foods, birthday cake, and ice cream.

Happy 15th Birthday, Katie!  You have become a beautiful young lady, and I am very proud of you!

 

While at the party Gran found herself the perfect chair!  It happened to be Cameron's rocking chair from when he was a little boy.  Here is Gran in her very special chair.  Precious!

We all had a great time together, but trust me...no one had a better time than Tiffany!  She has officially found her new hairstylist.  What's even better is that she is free!  Meet Tiffany's new hairstylist...

She is smiling here, but it doesn't last too long!  I have had many hairstyles from Meredith, and sometimes they are more like being tortured!  She did do a pretty good job though...Check out hairstyle #1.

Hairstyle #2 is even better! 

Meredith was quite proud of the hairstyles.  So, Aunt Tippy...she is free anytime you need her!

Meredith also enjoyed laughing and cutting up with her Daddy!  It took several tries, but I was finally able to get them to be somewhat serious for a picture.

She is definitely Daddy's Little Princess!

Funnies from Meredith

I am trying so hard write down all the funny and silly things that Meredith says and does.  It is almost a daily thing, and some of them just have me completely puzzled.  I have no idea where this grown woman came from in this almost 4 year old body!  Here are a few of her most recent funnies:

I posted a few weeks back about how she enjoys saying "Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep" as her bedtime prayer.  She also likes to say it at the dinner table when we are saying a blessing for our dinner.  We have told her several times that at dinner we need to thank God for our food, and ask him to bless it.  The other night, I was lying in bed with her.  She said, "Mommy, I need to say my prayers."  She folded her hands and closed her eyes and proceeded with this:

Now I lay me down to sleep.

I pray the Lord my soul to keep.

May angels watch me through the night,

and keep me in their blessed sight.

Bless the food...AMEN

She heard what we said, but now she thinks when she prays she needs to say "Bless the food"...even at bedtime.  We have our work cut out for us!

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This afternoon while talking to my Mom she told me that she had taken Meredith to dinner and bought her a coloring book at Walmart.  When they got home she started coloring, and my Mom praised her on how well she was staying the lines.  My Mom said in a few minutes Meredith walked over to her with the coloring book and said, "Granmommy, I am concerned about this."  When my Mom asked her why, she just said again "I am concerned about this."  I guess she was concerned about coloring in the lines. 

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Creig led singing at church a couple of weeks ago on a Sunday night.  Meredith has several hymns that are her favorties.  One is Do Lord.  Creig decided he was going to lead it because he knew how much Meredith enjoys it.  Unfortunately, the notes to the song were not written the way we know the song...so, when Creig got up to lead the song he got confused.  Everyone else was confused as well.  Needless to say, it didn't go as well as expected.  Meredith leaned over and asked me, "What is wrong with my Daddy?  That is not my Do Lord."  I told her the music was confusing and to sing it the way she knew it.  She sang out that night, but when her Daddy came to sit down she said "Daddy we need to teach you Do Lord a little better!"

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I love to hear Meredith sing Jesus Loves Me.  Instead of singing Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.....she sings Jesus loves me this I know, OR the Bible tells me so.

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This one is a little older, but I want to make sure I never forget it!  About a year ago, Meredith came out of Bible class and her teacher asked her to tell me about what she learned in class.  She told me she had learned about Lot and his wife.  Her teacher asked, "Meredith, what did Lot's wife do?" Meredith quickly answered, "She turned around and looked back."  Her teacher then asked her, "What did Lot's wife turn into?"  Meredith very seriously said, "She turned into the driveway."  

Allergic Reactions...We don't like them!

Meredith has been staying with my Mom and Dad for the past few days while we were attending the Marriage Retreat in TN.  She was so excited.  When we left her at school on Wednesday she didn't even care that we were leaving.  She was on Cloud 9, because her Granmommy was picking her up. 

Then it happened...The GREAT Allergic Reaction!  On Thursday when Meredith got up for school her face was a little red, but nothing more than normal.  She has problems with allergies, and she has eczema...really bad eczema, so it isn't uncommon for her face to be a little red in the morning. 

By lunch time we got a call from my Mom who had first received a call from my Aunt Donna at the daycare.  Apparently, Meredith's face had broken out into welps and she was having a full blown allergic reaction.  After, talking to my Mom and my Aunt Donna I told her I would call the pediatrician and they could keep an eye on it in the mean time. 

Before nap it seemed to be better, so she laid down for her nap.  After nap I got another call from my Mom who said she was on her way to pick Meredith up.  She woke from nap and her face was swollen and worse than before.  I had already talked to the pediatrician who said to give her Benadryl and keep an eye on her. 

I asked if my Aunt could take a picture of her and text it to me.  This is what I received:

Our pediatrician is fantastic, and happened to give me her cell phone number a long time ago.  She understands all that we have gone through with Meredith and her allergies and asthma.  I quickly sent her a text explaining that she had woken from nap like this, and should she just have Benadryl or did she want to see her.   No sooner did I hit send on the phone and my cell phone rang.  It was the pediatrician who quickly said...she needs to be seen and she needs a steroid shot! 

So, Meredith spent the afternoon with her Granmommy in the doctors office.  Luckily she didn't get the shot, but she did get some heavy oral steroids that she will be taking for 10 days.  Unfortunately, we are also headed to yet another allergist to be tested for the third time for allergies.

I was ready to pack everything up and head home, but after talking to Meredith I realized that I was far more upset than she was!  She handled everything like a big girl, and it reminded me of how quickly she is growing up!  I am so proud of her, and so thankful to be her Mommy! 

I have to say that my Mom (Granmommy) handled everything perfectly, and I never thought she wouldn't!  Thanks Mom! 

Pigeon Forge, Marriage Retreat, and Sailing on the Titanic

Creig and I have been in Pigeon Forge, TN for the past few days for the Great Smoky Mountain Marriage Retreat!  It has been fantastic!  Creig and I honeymooned in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area almost 6 years ago, so it was nice to come back for a few days!

We arrived Wednesday around 2:30 pm and checked into our hotel.  After picking up some things at Walmart and having dinner at ChickfilA, we headed to the Sevierville Church of Christ for their evening services at 7pm.  What a nice and welcoming group of people!  We truly enjoyed worshipping with them.    Excitingly, when I happened to turn around during the bible class I saw Brian and Amy Steel walk in.  They are from Missouri, and Creig actually went to high school with them.  We hadn't seen them in a couple of years, so we were all so excited to see each other!  Here are a few pictures of the views we saw on our way into Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge.

Beautiful!  I still have some of the pictures we took on our honeymoon in these same exact locations!  We  took pictures of each other out in this beautiful scenery!  Here is our attempt at one together...of course, there was no one else around to take a picture of us, so we did the best we could!

The Marriage Retreat is planned and facilitated by the Jacksonville Church of Christ, and they did a wonderful job!  We met another couple at the retreat from Florida and they told us they came for the first time in 2005.  They said in 2005 there were only 20 couples.  This year there were 900 people in attendance!  The schedule for the retreat is planned so that the couples in attendance not only get to attend the seminars but, that they also get to spend a lot of time together.

On Thursday, the sessions were at 7pm and 8pm, so we had all day Thursday to do whatever we wanted to!  Creig and I woke up around 7am and headed to the exercise room at the hotel to work out together.  It was nice, because we never get to workout together at home.  Afterwards we went to breakfast at the Applewood Grill at the Apple Barn and Cider Mill....AWESOME place!  The breakfast was fantastic!
We then spent a few hours walking around at Books A Million and the Tanger Outlets.  We bought Meredith a few surprises or as we like to call it a "searcy".  My parents always called our surprises a searcy and I tend to do this with Meredith too!  After our sessions on Thursday night we were pretty tired.

Today, the sessions started at 9:30 am and ended at 3pm.  We had breakfast at Louie's Grille inside our hotel before heading downstairs to the convention center for the retreat.  We had lunch with Brian and Amy Steel, and were excited to be able to see Jerry and Bonnie Prince.  Creig has known them for years, and Bonnie actually helped give me my bridal shower in Missouri.  They moved to Alabama a few years ago.  Jerry and Bonnie were in Pigeon Forge with a group of teens for WinterFest.  It was great to see them and catch up a little.

Since the Marriage Retreat ended at 3pm we were able to go out to eat dinner tonight.  Creig took me to Red Lobster and then surprised me by offering to go to the Titanic Museum. I think he was tired of hearing me talk about it!  It was far better than I had imagined!  We had a wonderful time, and spent hours in there!  This museum was was done by the man who actually found the Titanic in his ocean voyage in the 1980's.  They had all the original artifacts, stories, etc.  They even had the Titanic staircase rebuilt exactly the way it was on the original ship.  I love history...and I was in history heaven!

Unfortunately, they did not allow anyone visiting to use cameras or have their cellphones on in the museum, but I did get this picture of the outside.  We were able to touch a live growing iceburg inside, and touch 28 degree ocean water (the temperature of the water the night the Titanic sank).  It was frigid!
We were able to get a picture of each other outside in front of one of the Titanic anchors.  It was huge!

Tomorrow morning we will head home!  We have had a wonderful time, but we both agree that we have missed our Meredith.  Can't wait to see her and give her a searcy.  We definitely plan to make this trip again next year!



Happy Valentine's Day!

We love Valentine's Day at our house!  Today was extra special for Meredith because she had a party in her class at school, and I was able to attend.  I arrived at the end of nap time and this is what I found...

I was able to wake her up for the party, and she was so excited to see me!  They had lots of treats for their party, and Meredith enjoyed the chips the most.

Each child in Meredith's class made their own bags to collect their Valentine's cards.  Here's a picture of Meredith's Valentine bag.  Pretty creative.  I think she did a great job!



We signed up to bring treat bags for everyone in her class for the party.  I decided to buy plain bags and decorate them myself.  Meredith loves to fill the bags with the goodies, so she helped me with that.  Here's a picture of our special treat bags.

When we got home from school and work we exchanged our Valentine gifts with each other.  Meredith was first.  She got lots of great treats.  Not much candy.  She did get some PEZ, she loves them!  She got a new spinning toothbrush, a giant Strawberry Shortcake coloring book with stickers, a stuffed dog, a watch, silly bands and some hair bands. 

Her favorite thing was the Strawberry Shortcake coloring book and stickers, but she did love her new spinning toothbrush!

I was so excited, because I got something I was totally not expecting.  Creig bought me a standing jewelry box, and I love it!  It is beautiful and will hold all of my jewelry and more!  I think he was tired of seeing me lay my jewelry on the dresser.

Meredith picked out a cute fleece throw and heart shaped pillow for me all by herself!  She was so proud of it!  So sweet!

Creig of course got some Reese's candy and PEZ that he loves.  I bought him several outfits last week, and couldn't wait until today to give them to him, so he got most of his gifts a little early. 

Meredith gave him a mug with several pictures of her that say, I love you Daddy. 

Meredith also gave her Daddy a very sweet card that we made online and had shipped!  It turned out so cute!

We had a wonderful Valentine's Day!  Wishing you all a very Happy Valentine's Day too!