It's A Happy Day!!

As many of you know, Alli begins each and every day calling one of us into her room, getting out of bed, going to the window, and announcing to the day, "It's a Happy Day!!" Very fitting for our famously happy little girl. This little tradition began before she could speak, when I would get her out of her crib, take her to the window, and we would greet the new day.

Well, we are now blessed to have not only one happy little girl, but two happy little girls. Here are a ton of pictures of them, having fun and being... HAPPY!!

The girls in their matching Valentine's pj's from Dede.

Our smiley baby girl!!

Sweet, happy Alli!

Sister Love....

Making Valentines

Growing girl
(getting "measured" at 2 months ~ approximately 21 7/8" long, and 11 pounds 10 ounces!)

Alli eating chocolate chip pancakes ~ just like Onnie used to make for Mommy!

This is the doll furniture Nana and Papa gave to Alli for Christmas. Here are Holly (Alli's doll that was mine as a child) and Boots lounging around together (at Alli's request).

Yes, those are exactly what you think they are....
Alli "found" my breastpump, took off her shirt, and asked if she could pump "just like Mommy."

At Madison's 4th birthday party ~ jumping and sliding...

...and at Maddox's 2nd birthday party ~ Maddox even shared his "throne" with Alli for a few minutes. :)

Two healthy, very happy little girls....
What more could we ask for???


P.S. I know you are reading this, because I get emails and phone calls galore about the posts! We love to read your comments on the blog, so please feel free to post one. Also, for those of you who don't blog regularly, you can double click on the pictures to see them larger and more clearly. :)

Supper Club

We had our monthly supper club last night at the home of Sue Anne and Jason Bell ~ and everyone was able to come! And let me tell you, with a group of seven residents and fellows, that is a very difficult feat! I have to give our group serious kudos, though, because every month, we all truly make supper club a priority. Why? Because we have so much fun together!!

Our group consists of 7 couples at this time, and we have had others come and go as their respective residencies/fellowships ended, and they moved on. However, we are proud that out of our 7 current couples, 4 were in the "original" supper club, which began when our husbands began their residencies in the summer of 2004: Stephanie and Travis Ansley (Anesthesiology), Sue Anne and Jason Bell (OB/GYN), Emily and Stephen Greer (Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery), and us (Pediatrics/Neonatology). The girls joined the MCG Housestaff Medical Auxiliary, asked to be a part of a couples' supper club, and were randomly placed. Mind you, all of us were brand new to Augusta and didn't know a soul! As luck would have it, we hit it off and have become very close friends.

Personally, I do not know what we would have done without this awesome group of friends!! We have been through so much together ~ from pregnancies, to learning how to "cope" as residents' wives. In fact, out of the 4 couples who remain from our original group, only 1 (the Bells) had any children at that time. Little Madison Bell was only 8 months old when we all met; I was pregnant with Alli. Now, Madison is 4 (unbelievable!), Alli is about turn 3, Maddox Greer just turned 2, Megan Bell is nearly 2, Brad and I had Elizabeth, and the Ansleys are expecting their first little one in June. If it takes a village to raise a child, these friends have been our "village" here in Augusta. At the end of this year (June), we will be sad to lose several Supper Club members to life outside of residency ~ aka, "real life" ~ as they move away from Augusta. But for now, we are still having a blast!

Here are the girls, beginning on the lower left (black and white top): Stephanie Ansley, Emily Greer, Melissa Jadick, Leah Wilkins, Ashley Lewis, and Sue Anne Bell.

And here are the guys, starting on the left (yellow shirt): Travis Ansley, Stephen Greer, Brad, & Grant Lewis...

...Tal Wilkins and Jason Bell.
(And I just realized that with all of the pictures I took last night, somehow I didn't get a picture of Rich Jadick!)

And here are the newest mini-members of our Supper Club: Lauren Lewis is on the left, and Elizabeth is on the right; these sweet girls are only 3 weeks apart in age (and their older sisters are only 2 days apart).

For any of you Supper Club members ~ past or present ~ who are reading this, we love y'all!!!

Little Kisses From God

I begin most mornings tired these days after being up and down all night, feeding a newborn. My reaction? I soak up those moments at 2:00 and 4:00am, because they are fleeting and will not last forever ~ and they are some of the few quiet moments I am able to spend with my baby. I laugh and kiss her all over her precious little face....

I began this morning being thrown-up on by Elizabeth. My reaction? I laughed as I kissed her chubby little cheeks. Next on the agenda? To help Alli wipe herself after she had pottied a #2. My reaction? Again, to kiss my precious child and squeeze her buns as she ran out of the bathroom to go drink some milk and play. Since that time this morning, there have been sweet moments ~ gurgly smiles from my infant, a spontaneous "I love you, Mommy" from my 2 year old, watching my girls snuggle on the floor ~ and there have been more yuck moments, as well ~ Alli telling me "It isn't my turn to obey you, it is your turn to obey me!", or getting tired near naptime and throwing goldfish all over the floor out of frustration, and Elizabeth being fussy as she tries to soothe herself to sleep, or having a big blowout of a poopie diaper. My reaction to each: laughter (well, eventually) and a kiss.

Oh, don't get me wrong: I have my frustrated moments, as well. And although one moment I may feel that God has granted me incredible patience, the next I feel that I didn't get my fair share, as I silently count to ten in my head.

It was after the most recent blowout poopie diaper that warrented yet another clothes change today that I got this little "Kiss from God," as our Bible Study leader would call it. I began to think about my children and everyone else in my life that I love so much. Think about it: When you love someone ~ your children, spouse, siblings, parents, friends ~ you love all of them, the good and the bad ~ even the "dirty diapers" parts of them. Could you truly love them if you didn't know about their "dirty diapers?" Or could you only "like" them if you only know the sweet, happy parts of them? If you ask me, I love the ones I love even more because I know about their dirty diapers.

My little kiss from God is this: That is why God loves us and how He feels about us! Oh, I have "known" this for a while, I suppose ~ or at least, I have been told this and thought I knew it. But for whatever reason, it really hit me a few minutes ago as I changed Boots yet again today, as she cooed and smiled up at me. Maybe it especially jumped out at me because that is one of the things we have discussed in my weekly Bible Study. We are doing "Restore My Heart," and Judy (our leader) stresses to us that we are worthy of God's love, and that He loves us because He knows the bad and the good in each of us. Afterall, is it truly "love" if you don't know both good and bad? I don't think so..... And I am comforted by that, because I know that God knows the good and the bad in me and loves me anyway ~ and that is true love.

So Many "FIRSTS"!!!

Okay, I have been slacking ~ but here is a great little catchup post!
The past few weeks have been filled with many firsts for both of the girls.

For Elizabeth, there have been lots of people to meet ~ especially family members! Some of my family came from Alabama to see her and Alli a while back; Janis, Lynn, and Brooke are pictured, and Brenda and Cil made the effort to come, as well! All total, they drove 14 hours here and back in order to see our family for just a couple of hours. How precious that visit was to us, and so much appreciated!

Dede visited that day, as well.

Not long after the Randall visit, some of Brad's family came to see us. Mimi & DB; Vicki, Mandy, & Grandmommie; PapaDoc & Gigi; and Blake all visited the girls. Blake even read a book to Alli!

Boots has had several other firsts, as well. Her first bath was a stressful experience for her; needless to say, she didn't enjoy it very much! But since then, she has loved her baths, smiling and cooing the whole time. (She has become so interactive and "smiley" lately!!)

She has been introduced to the bottle, as well. At first, she liked it fine and did a terrific job! Well, that lasted about 2 or 3 days. Since then, her Daddy has to battle with her to get her to take even just an ounce or two. We will get there, though! I have been pumping for her to take my milk in her bottles, which to Alli is a very perplexing event. The first time she walked in on me, she told me that it looked like a trumbone to her (and the attachments do sort of resemble a horn shape), and she ran into the living room to tell Brad, "Daddy, Daddy! Mommy is playing the trumbone!"

Speaking of our little "Curly Sue," Alli got her first haircut this past Friday at a local salon for kids, called "Yams." It is a fun place for kids. There are videos, toys, bubbles, and lollipops ~ all for their distraction while getting their hair cut. Alli and Maddox went together, although Maddox is a pro at this now. Alli sat in the firetruck, and Maddox sat in the airplane (until he decided he preferred to sit in Emily's lap). Alli did great, her one concern being that her hair would not still be shiny. We got about 2 inches cut off and have a baggie full of curls to show for it!

Yet another first for both of the girls was SNOW!!! Boots spent the time in her swing, sleeping, but Alli had a blast playing outside! Of course, the snow didn't stick to the ground, but it did stick to leaves, and Alli had fun catching it on her tongue!

I had to include the next picture ~ Alli's first drawing of a person.
Isn't it too cute?!?!
In case you can't tell, that is a head with arms and legs ~ complete with 2 eyes (which blurred into lines) and a smile!

By the way, I have another CONGRATS for my hubby!! He recently found out that a research article he submitted for publication is going to be published in a medical journal. Way to go, Honey!!! We are so proud of you!

The Greers came over to watch the Super Bowl last night, and we were all excited to see the Giants win!! It was bittersweet, though, realizing this will be the last football game we will watch with them for a long time.... They, along with so many of our dear Augusta friends, will be moving early this summer. They have already put their house up for sale. (Brad and I secretly plan to steal all of their signs and not let them leave!)

A shout-out to our New Orleans friends:
HAPPY MARDI GRAS!!!
(a day early) :)