Little Diva

AKA: Lilly Grace, Lilly, Lils, Lil, Sissy, Sister,

Eyes: Blue with some crazy long eye lashes

Hair: Out of Control curly

Favorite Pastimes: drinking milk from a baby bottle, sucking on a "Das" (pacifier), trying on shoes and jewels, pilfering through drawers and cabinets, passing out kisses to the men in her life (Dada, Bubby, Papa, Pappaw)

Favorite food: anything and everything as long as there's lots of it...is especially fond of yogurt, bananas and breakfast sausage

Loves: Frogs, Bubble baths, Little Bear and the color "lellow"

Dislikes: dirt, grocery shopping

Most Notable Accomplishment: stealing the hearts of her Mommy, Daddy, and big brother.

WARNING: this little diva starts ballet class on Friday...they may have to close down the school after Lil takes a stab at dancing!!!

Fires and Fun

With the unseasonably cool weather this weekend we took a little break and headed to Nana and Papa's to do one of our favorite things. To roast hot dogs on the fire. Mom cooked some chili and we invited my grandparents and let the kids have a ball running around the yard. The weather felt just like fall and we had the best time! I towed my camera along, hope you enjoy the photos!

I Give Up...

I'm an indoor girl...I like air conditioning, I like TV, I like my handy dandy computer and my cool camera gadgets. I do like to venture into the outdoors for the chance to photograph some super cute kids (including my own). I even enjoyed sitting through Noah's t ball games, and I do love love love to venture outside in the fall with the leaves are all crackly.

However, I do not like mud, snakes, rodents, bugs, etc etc etc. However, I am the mother of a five year old boy who cannot get enough of the above. You remember the post about the fire bellied frogs? Well we have progressed. We now are the proud owners of a river turtle (not a snapping turtle) that lives in a little cage in Noah's bedroom, a case full of worms (the nasty fat yellow and black kind that SPIT...yes I said spit) and Oh yes, this afternoon Noah managed to capture a praying mantis the size of my hand. (Look out Ms. Lesley, I think he wants to bring it to school)

What next??? Wait don't answer that, I'm afraid it will be something with fangs...

I Wonder...

I Wonder Sometimes....

-Why there is a warning on my blowdryer to not use while bathing....hmmm I guess it could save a little time...

-Why on the infomercial for the magic duster the woman dances and spins gracefully while dusting her bookshelf. If that thing really makes housework so fun I should get 17 of them...

-why the voice that used to be on the banks ATM machine had a british accent...

-why my child will wipe his nose on a clean article of clothing...his own, mine, the checkout lady at the grocery...but never thinks to grab a tissue

-why car keys don't come with tracking devices (or cell phones for that matter)

-why sitting through a church service makes Lilly compelled to shriek, spit, and just generally wreak havoc...

-why my dryer eats socks

-why there is a warning on my rubbermaid storage containers that tells you not to put your child in one with the lid on it...I mean really it's so much cheaper than purchasing a playpen...and the lid keeps it soundproof???

-why there are baby dresses that cost 90 dollars when they are constructed with a teensy amount of cotton material that probably cost 1.23 to make...

-why I think the stupid radio commercials for "real men of genius" is so blasted funny...they're ridiculous and I will seriously laugh out loud everytime I hear one...Please tell me you know what I'm talking about...

Conversation with a two year old

After taking portraits of kids and babies for five years and working in a salon with kids before that I have learned a couple of things. (not a lot mind you but a couple of things!)

One thing is that around the 2 year old mark kids respond better if you begin speaking with them like an adult. Even if they cannot respond in an adult manner they still mainly understand being spoken to like an adult instead of "baby talk"

Hence the conversation I had with Lilly this morning?

"Sweetie, what would you like Mommy to cook for your breakfast?"

Blank stare from Lil

"Lilly, what do you want for breakfast?"

Another blank stare and retreives empty toilet paper cardboard roll to tinker with from the guest bathroom...

"Lilly Grace, what do you want for breakfast?"

"Pih Lay On..." (Translations...turn the Backyardigans pink lady on)

"Lilly do you want panckaes, yogurt, or toast and grapes?"

Lilly catches on at this point, makes eye contact and firmly replies...

"Noonles" (translation...macaroni and cheese)

"Lilly we are not eating noodles for breakfast, you can have toast or you can have yogurt which do you want."

At this point Lilly loses interest and yells across the room,

"Baby Durdle..." (She spies Noah's pet turtle in his cage and anything small to her is a baby... (baby rocks, baby ice cubes,)

Ah well I suppose we can commence the adult conversations later...

Zoo Trip

I meant to post about this before school started but as always I'm a little behind! We had promised Noah all summer that we would take him to the zoo. So the week before school started I had some unexpected cancellations on a day that wasn't horribly hot so Mom and I planned a spur of the moment trip to the zoo. We went to the Nashville Zoo mainly because we had been to the Louisville Zoo not very long ago.

This was also my first major driving through downtown Nashville. Anytime we drive anywhere very far Travis always does the navigating, but I decided that with the trusty GPS I could manage and I did. It was a little stressful and I was very thankful that I do not have to drive in that traffic everyday.

The kids had a blast and the favorite for both of them (much to my dismay) was the reptile house. (Noah loved the snakes and Lilly screamed and shrieked with excitement about the bi bogs (translations big frogs). I truly have never seen a girl who loves frogs so much...

We had a great day and Nana got to tell the story to Noah of how when I was a little girl I would cry and beg not to have to go into the reptile house. (Have I mentioned I have a horrible fear of snakes?)

Anyway, enjoy the photos!

Blog Published...

OK I read lots of my friends blogs and I know that alot of you use your blog in the same way I use mine. I don't really have time to scrapbook anymore and so my blog serves as sort of a "family journal" for me to remember the kids milestones and just everyday events of our family. So I had officially had the blog for a little over a year and I decided to have it printed.

I used sharedbook.com to have my blog printed and it was really really easy. It tooke me about 20 minutes or so and for around 60 dollars I have a 150 page bound copy of my blog entries, photos and comments. We have already really enjoyed reading through it because there were alot of things the kids had said or done that I would have forgotten if I hadn't blogged about it. My goal is to publish my blog once a year and to keep them as memory books for our family.

Anyway, I really liked the results and I thought some of you might be interested! You don't have to use sharedbook because there are tons of other sites that do the same thing if you google them.

Attention Photograpy Clients...

Hey Guys, just a quick note to any of you who are my photography clients. I have officially been taking portraits now for nearing 5 years and as you can imagine I have literally tens of thousands of photo files saved on my computer, my external hard drive and saved on discs.

I am in the process of purging some of my oldest files so soon some of the photo sessions that were over a 1 to 2 years old will no longer be available to purchase.

However, I have decided before I permanently delete anything I will offer anyone who wishes to purchase the digital negatives (your fully edited files on CD) along with a full copyright release for $50 per session. This means you would be able to print, copy, or put together any albums you wish, publish your images to blogger, facebook, etc. I have several customers who have expressed interest in putting these discs in safety deposit boxes as well to have as backups in case of fire, etc. Exceptions...this offer is only good for sessions shot during or prior to 2007. Also, if you wish to purchase the entire year of a baby club, the CD's are priced per session, not per year.

Clear as mud? I thought so!! Anyway, if you are interested in getting any of your files before they are permanently removed from storage please email me at jparsley@windstream.net.

If you want to get a CD please contact me BY SEPTEMBER 1st. I am hoping to have a lot of file transfers complete before the busy busy busy fall and Christmas season hits! Thanks!!!!

Oh Dear...

My 10 year reunion is in 2 months...My 29th birthday is in 4 months...My baby just started kindergarten. 30 doesn't seem so "old" anymore!!!

She missed her "bubby" so much today...

I forgot to add this photo earlier. This is what they looked like when we picked Noah up this afternoon, they hugged like this forever...I am one blessed Mommy that is a sure thing.

We Did it...We survived the first day of Kindergarten!!!

Well after the tears and emotions of yesterday's post, I will try to make this one a little more upbeat! Noah was so excited and woke up at around 6 this morning. He couldn't hardly sit still, and I barely got him to eat one bite of sausage and toast. He did manage to get a picture with Daddy before Travis headed to the office.

We laid out Noah's school clothes the night before, but well, for all who know us knows that Noah has clothing issues. Things have to be just so so. Like the pants have to be the perfect fit, the shirt has to be the perfect size, the shoes, etc. I could go on and on. So anyway, Noah got a little grumpy trying to get dressed which stressed me out a little, but we managed to get clothed and hair fixed and all and went to the front porch for our "first day of school pictures." I must say, he did look AWFULLY cute in his outfit. Then my Dad arrived to keep Lil until I could get home and me and Noah were off!

He had to stop and socialize a little on his way in the door, greeting Mr. Tyree and then he was so excited to see Mrs. Diana and Mrs. Rausa (his teachers from preschool) and then he was ready to venture in the big kindergarten room. He immediately sat down with his buddies and started drawing. He was been in this room off and on since he was a baby so he made himself right at home. I was trying really hard to put on a smile because I knew he wouldn't want me to cry in front of his friends. I got to watch him on the rug and do a few games and call roll and then he hugged and kissed me bye and was off on his new adventure. I went down to the library for the annual "boo hoo" Breakfast and then snuck back to his room and peeked through the window and I could tell he was having a blast so I went on home.

Lil on the other hand I think had given Dad a run for his money. He informed me she got up as soon as I left (she usually sleeps til 9 or 10) had a bad dirty diaper and he had already fixed her 3 bottles in an hour. Oh well, he was a good sport about it all! After he left it really hit me how quiet the house was without my little man running around and I cried a little (or alot) into my coffee cup, and then tried to console myself by talking to Stephanie, and then I found the straw that broke the camels back. I opened the washer to dry a load of clothes that Travis had washed. I found that Noah's first precious baby quilt, that still is used on his bed, had been somehow mixed with a load of white clothes and now has bleach spots all over it. At that point, the tears really flowed. Any other day I would have just went on but it was all too much today! Oh well, he'll love the blanket anyway, bleach spots or not...

Anyway, I picked Noah up after lunch and he was so excited. I asked him what his favorite part of kindergarten was and he replied, "All of it!" I must say, when his sissy got to pick him up from school she ran into his arms on the side walk and they hugged for the longest time. It was so very sweet, it just made me glad all over again that Noah has a baby sister.

He came home and took a 2 hour nap and then we all went out to eat at Pizza Hut to celebrate his first day as a kindergartner. All in all it was a good day. I'm trying to tell myself tomorrow will be OK too since it is the first time he'll be gone all day. I think me and Lilly may have to escape the big quiet house tomorrow until we get a little more used to it all.

A Little Sentimental...

My babies are snuggled asleep in their beds and I've been trying to get last minute stuff done for the first day of school tomorrow. Just the words, the first day of school, makes me a little sad.

Noah did attend preschool but it was only 3 hours a day four days a week and attendance was optional. I knew he could go or not go and I picked him up before it was even lunchtime. So thinking about my little boy being gone from me all day every day is a little hard for me to grasp.

This is the same little boy who I waited and prayed for and when he was born my life changed completely! I spent my days at home as a new Mommy doing nothing but simply holding and rocking and singing to him. We would literally spend hours together in our rocking chair, both content to be there. When he was old enough to toddle around we would spend hours and hours in the floor playing with tractors, little people, books, he loved it all. My world literally revolved around this child.

At that time, I was still working in the salon 2 or 3 days a week and when we made the decision that I would stay home and just work when Travis got home one day Noah came to me and said (he was 3 at the time), "Mommy, do you remember when you had to work at the shop all day and take me somewhere? I'm so glad you don't do that anymore!" Talk about melting a mommy's heart. That moment made me quit questioning forever if I had made the right decision.

So basically this boy has been by my side day and night since he was born. (Except for his much beloved overnight trips to Nana's!) So the thought of me not knowing everything he's doing or feeling or saying is breaking my heart a little right now.

On the other hand I am excited for him to start on this new adventure. He already has so many friends at school that he loves to be with, and he has heard Nana talk alot about all the fun things they'll do in kindergarten.

But part of me knows that as I'm writing this and wondering where on Earth the time has gone to that it will seem like a blink of an eye and my baby boy will be starting his senior year of high school and I'll still wonder why it has passed so fast.

So until that time, every chance I can, I'll still play tractors, swing him on the swings, read books, and whatever else my little man can come up with us to do because for right now, even if he is a kindergartner, he is still my baby.

Is this REALLY the last week of summer break???

We have been like crazy people here trying to squeeze everything in the last week of summer. We had doctor's appointments, I worked every evening, had to run paperwork back and forth to the allergy specialist and participate in an epi-pen training at SEE so at the end of the week we did manage to squeeze in some fun!

Thursday we met my friend Lera and her two sweet boys for some lunch at Pizza Hut and then we took them to play at Chuck E Cheese (aka Chunky Cheese as Noah refers to it). The boys played forever and then ran into their other friend Evan and they played and played some more! Well the big boys played, Lilly and Baby Eli kind of just took it all in. Lilly was highly concerned with the huge mouse and she kept saying, No mouse, no..."

Then on Friday we had a play date with the Butlers! The boys spent the day playing superheroes and dressing up as all their favorite characters and Lilly kind of tagged along. Although at some point we did overhear Noah informing her she was the "wife".... Also my sweet friend Deanna actually taught me how to operate my sewing machine and we managed to make a pillowcase dress for Lilly. I felt so domestic...Of course it was all thanks to Deanna's coaching!!! Friday night, Travis and I decided to take the kids to the drive-in at Franklin. We dressed the kids in their jammies, made a pit stop on the way for snacks, and spent the evening watching G-Force and the proposal. Noah LOVED it...Lilly not so much...but after she went to sleep we managed to finish both movies. Noah actually stayed awake for about half the second movie before he gave it up also. They were so cute parked between us on the truck seat with their little jammies and their snacks, well they were cute until Lil tried to bail out the open window. We didn't get home until almost 1 am!!!

Today Travis kept the kids and Mom and I ventured to Elizabethtown to finish school shopping for Noah (to purchase some clothing without skulls or electric guitars). It was the first Saturday I haven't worked in literally 6 months and I can't even remember the last time mom and I got to shop together without the kiddos so we had a great day!!! We ate breakfast and then hit the mall. We made it in for church at Jock tonight and then we went to my grandmother's to celebrate a family birthday.
We have church again tomorrow and then dinner with the family and then visiting some more and then we will have to get in bed early for SCHOOL the next morning!!! So far it's been a fun weekend, I"m just trying to catch my breath.